Playboy To College Kids: We Want You

Hugh Hefner's Empire Launching A Students-Only Social Networking Site

(CBS)  After resurrecting its night clubs last fall with the Playboy Club at The Palms Casino in Las Vegas, the company is building "location-based entertainment venues." A 40,000-square-foot Playboy Mansion in Macau will open in late 2009 and Playboy is eyeing similar projects in London, Atlantic City, Eastern Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Executives declined to say how much they've invested in Playboy U, saying only that the effort is "sizable" and that the advertising-supported online community may ultimately bring in revenue.

But when and how long that will take is anyone's guess, especially as more companies flock to compete with industry heavyweights Facebook and MySpace for the attention of fickle young people. The Web site has managed to get 2,000 members from 500 colleges during early beta tests.

"It's a very lucrative market," said Michael Kelman, senior media analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group. "The college kids, they're going to be better-educated and have higher disposable incomes. (But) it's been a very, very tough audience to grab."

The site bars nudity but leaves little to the imagination with pictures from the mansion's "Midsummer Night's Dream" party and message topics such as "What Do You Think About Penis Enlargement" and "How Many People Have You Slept With? To Lie or Not to Lie."

The site has instituted a college-only policy, which bars anyone without an e-mail address ending in .edu from joining. And Playboy U says it will boot any university faculty, staff or alumni or other non-students that it discovers on the site.

In many ways its format is similar to Facebook and MySpace — people choose to "friend" each other, can post videos and photos or leave messages on a "wall." But users can also access university-specific pages that list campus events while viewing individual profiles of Playboy U members throughout the Web site.

"Your little brother can't get in. Your little sister can't get in. Nor can your mother and father," Stephen said.

It's that exclusivity coupled with the Playboy cachet personified by Hefner that Adam Gibson, a 24-year-old public relations major at West Virginia University, likes most about the site.

"They do a really good job at blending in the Playboy lifestyle with the student," said Gibson, who promotes the Web site to his classmates. "There's a level of exclusivity to it. And I think that keeps it cool."

[hawksprings]

And this is Sci-Tech news how??

...

[tnt1954]

the many for the one is passe''. one for
the many is more normal. more sane. so that
the many may live on. some are asked to
sacrifice their entire being on the altar
of love, as they do every day. everyones woman
still loves only me. what is mine? a mine
in space? ready to blow anytime. a life
so fleeting, it cannot be caught. from nothing
back to nothing for no reason at all, what
a strange teaching to swallow against my will.
origin of space? beyond the end of forever.
reasoning why, not just to do and dye. generation
y. a fork in the road, go right, go left,
stay and camp at still point or back to the
mud hut. fairy tale the flounder.

[uhf62]

ncolsens

You really don''t have any idea at all just what naturism is all about.OF COURSE we wear clothes most of the time in our home.As a family we celebrate the human body as a gift of nature that shouldnt be covered 24/7 with clothes.
Our 2 children were raised with a healthy appreciation for their bodies.My wife and I have no problem if they sunbathe nude or swim nude in our pool in our backyard with their friend who are also nude for they are fellow naturist.
We attend naturists house parties and go on vacations with our many friend where nobody wears clothes and it is no different than any other house parties or vacations except that we feel more comfortable without clothes.

By the way,if you think we are hippy freeks think again my wife is a meteorologist I am a science researcher,our son graduated from college with a degree is business,our daughter graduates next year and to become an engineer.
We are a nromal American family who happen to enjoy naturism.

[keithle1]

I love the expressions of the girls in the photo.

"Last year the company eked out a $2.3 million profit" Whew. Pretty pathetic. Hardly worth staying in business. Barely pay for a pair of Hef''s pajamas.

Can''t imagine anyone subscribing to PLAYBOY.
I never see anyone buying it at newsstands. The women are too airbrushed & fake. Seen one blonde you''ve seen ''em all. They all think they''re the sexiest thing on planet earth.

That TV show with his three girlfriends makes me ill. Stupid, silly girly girls on an eternal all-expenses paid slumber party. Hef wandering around like someone''s grandfather. How old is he now. Pushing 80?

uhf62 sooo......you all sit around the dinner table and eat in the nude? ya''ll sick!!

[uhf62]

My daughter who is now 24 and in college now has alway wanted to pose in Playboy,she has the full support of both myself and my wife.We has a family believe that nudity is beautiful and is to be praised and not put down.All of us,our son included are naturists.being nude at the beach or at home is a normal thing for us.

[olebd]

I guess they figure since Joe Francis is in jail, they''ll swoop in and start their own Girls Gone Wild type franchise. I smell future lawsuits. All a college gal has to do is have second thoughts. Fake ID''s anyone?

[mitywhity]

When will the perverted curmudgeon Hefner finally croak?