Former Playboy CEO dispels company myths
Anyone expecting the typical Playboy playmate would have been disappointed.
Christie Hefner, former chief executive officer of Playboy Enterprises, is known by some as the daughter of Playboy’s founder and satin robe-wearing Hugh Hefner. But many recognize her as the individual that led the entertainment magazine into a global and digital age.
On Wednesday, Hefner filled the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with students, professors and community members diverse in gender and age. Hefner spoke about her involvement with Playboy and the concept of branding not just products, but self branding, too.
‘While I was privileged to be a steward of a great brand, I have come to believe that we are, at the end of the day, each our own brand,’ Hefner said. ‘All the decisions you make, all the interactions you have with people, all the things you do and don’t do, will accumulate and define what your brand is.’
In 1982, Hefner became involved with Playboy when the corporation had many unprofitable divisions, such as a book club and a limousine company.
‘I came up with this idea that I could step in as president and turn the company around,’ Hefner said. ‘I was 29 years old, had never worked in another business, so the obvious question was, ‘What was I thinking?”
More than 20 years later, Playboy created a television network. And in 1994, Hefner led Playboy to become the first national magazine to go completely online.
‘We decided to be creative risk takers and fiscally conservative. We were able to build a multi-revenue product and found that people online are interactive, timely and able to create their own community,’ Hefner said.
Hefner looks at Playboy as a brand, she said, something that she believes should transcend the product. Though the magazine has changed over time, Hefner said, the brand has not.
‘From the beginning, Playboy was sexy, stylish, sophisticated and all about freedom,’ she said. ‘Now, it might express itself differently, but it is still based on those underlying values.’
Former Newhouse Dean David Rubin, who was instrumental in bringing Hefner to campus, wanted students to hear her speak because two-thirds of Newhouse students are women.
‘We want to provide women in the school with a good role model,’ Rubin said. ‘Given that she had to evolve with a magazine faced with the digital revolution, I thought it would be useful to hear from someone who successively made that transition.’
Although Rubin did not encounter any opposition from university members about bringing Hefner to campus, he said, there were some people anonymously posting stickers on event flyers that read ‘Women Revolt.’ But there was no sign of disturbance at the lecture.
In answering student questions, Hefner revealed pointers and lessons learned from leading a women’s magazine and ideas she proudly rejected. Some of these include a chain of Playboy-themed restaurants. Additionally, she expressed her original doubt for E!’s reality television program, ‘The Girls Next Door.’ Though she expected the show to embarrass everyone from her father to the girls, she now calls the show ‘charming.’
Amy Marturana, a sophomore magazine journalism major, said that she originally went to hear Hefner speak because she is a fan of ‘The Girls Next Door,’ but found it motivational to hear such a successful woman’s story.
‘There is a negative stigma with the whole Playboy brand. But I agree with her that women can be shown as empowered, sexy and strong at the same time,’ Marturana said.
Hefner expressed the belief that there is a big difference between Playboy and pornography.
‘Pornography is typically used to describe something that is not of high quality and not appealing,’ Hefner said. ‘There is something about hardcore, sexual content that is the antithesis of celebration – it makes you feel like you should wash your hands after. But, the reason that the most beautiful women in the world want to be on the pages of Playboy is because it is an affirmation of themselves. I think the magazine has always tried to take the approach that sex is a good thing and to treat it in a romantic way.’
She explained that the sexual revolution and the women’s movement are liberations that benefit both men and women.
‘I think the photographs in the magazine are beautiful, and they celebrate a male’s perspective of life. There is something a little off about the idea that women should have to choose between expressing their sexuality and be taken seriously. I think women can and should be both respected and desired,’ she said.
