Playboy, Ancient Source of Tit Pics, Wants to Partner With the Sagamore

Used to be Playboy was a culturally relevant publication that was an institution in itself. Then Internet porn came along and made the magazine pretty much irrelevant.It didn't help matters that founder Hugh Hefner turned himself into a Viagra-addled punch line, and his "girlfriends'" E! TV show cemented the Playboy...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

December 9, 2009

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Used to be Playboy was a culturally relevant publication that was an institution in itself. Then Internet porn came along and made the magazine pretty much irrelevant.

It didn't help matters that founder Hugh Hefner turned himself into a Viagra-addled punch line, and his "girlfriends'" E! TV show cemented the Playboy ideal as blond bimbos with cup sizes larger than their IQs. Nor has it helped that their creepy attempt at stunt casting this year with, ugh, Marge Simpson, didn't garner nearly as much attention as Playgirl's Levi Johnston saga. Or that their logo is now synonymous with drunk chicks with daddy issues visiting tattoo parlors on spring break.

Well, now Playboy has noticed the Sagamore is behind on its mortgage payments and hopes to save the hotel by opening the only non-Las Vegas outpost of the Playboy Club. But how is the company in any position to help a financially troubled institution when it's not doing too well itself? It recently cut its rate base from 2.6 million to 1.5 million, and rumors have swirled for the past year that Hefner might have to sell his empire.

There's a reason the only remaining Playboy Club is in Vegas: because the brand has become cheesy as hell. Honestly, we'd rather have a Hooters on South Beach -- it's just as cheesy, with just as much cleavage, but at least the place has good wings.

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