Content warning: This article describes sexual abuse and assault, which may be disturbing and/or triggering for some readers.
The '90s are back—and that includes the Playboy bunny logo adorning clothes everywhere. From jeans to duffel bags, almost every article of clothing is marked with this instantly recognizable symbol. Today, the Playboy bunny is so ubiquitous to the point where it seems like this tuxedo–clad bunny is being promoted as a retro icon that inspires nostalgia for the late 20th century. But in light of recent and past allegations against Hugh Hefner and the Playboy franchise, the commercialization of the Playboy logo isn’t just strangely consumerist—it’s also dangerous.
When Playboy founder Hugh Hefner died in 2017, the media remembered him as a legendary hedonist that advocated for civil rights and open sexuality, dubbing him a “leader of the sexual revolution.” With countless obituaries and memorials dedicated to Hefner’s impact on pop culture, many glossed over the sexual abuse that Hefner and his magazine encouraged and, instead, romanticized his legacy. In fact, at the time of Hefner’s death, anyone who spoke ill of him was sent hate and death threats.
Prior to his death, Hefner was no stranger to sexual abuse allegations. With former Playmate Holly Madison chronicling her time in Hefner’s California estate in her 2015 novel, she “learned Hef was the manipulator and that he pitted [Playmates] against one another.” Similarly, according to Kendra Wilkinson, another former Playmate, she “had to be very drunk or smoke lots of weed to survive [the nights she spent with Hefner]—there was no way around it.”
However, recent docuseries Secrets of Playboy reveals even more graphic details of life in the Playboy Mansion and the toxic role that Hefner played in commodifying abuse, such as constant surveillance of “Hef’s girls,” creating a cult of personality around himself, harmful “weigh–ins,” soliciting sex from minors, sexual assault, and more heinous crimes.
But not only has Hefner been alleged to be a violent misogynist who actively abused women on a daily basis—he also massively profited from it. Despite the serious allegations against him, Hefner continued to financially benefit from his sexual abuse and objectification of women until the day of his death, with an estimated net worth of $50 million throughout his lifetime, all while portraying himself as a kind grandpa to the media.
However, Hefner’s alleged abuse wasn’t just enabled by the public—he was also celebrated for it. Not only did the public consistently buy Playboy merchandise, but they also overlooked the misogynist implications of outfits adorned with the Playboy logo. From the people who idolized his hedonism and ability to freely talk about sex to the news outlets that continuously painted him as the blueprint for the modern urban man, Hefner wasn’t seen as dangerous at all—he was seen as aspirational.
But even now, in spite of the concerning allegations against Hefner and the many criticisms raised against him regarding how the brand centered women and female sexuality around the male gaze, it still seems that Playboy is being romanticized to this very day. Despite Playboy Magazine’s socially–conscious rebrand as “a newer, woke–er, more inclusive Playboy,” its continued usage of iconography that symbolizes Playboy’s problematic past highlights how this rebrand should be taken at face value.
The recognizable nature of the Playboy logo funded a majority of Hefner’s wealth—not the pornography that defined the magazine. In fact, just two years before Hefner’s death, Playboy was said to make most of its money through licensing its logo. Even though Playboy may claim that they’ve changed their values after the Hefner family’s departure from the company, its logo still carries the same meaning it has held since its inception—it represents the ability to profit from violence, misogyny, and abuse.
The Playboy bunny icon communicates nothing about Playboy’s present values. All it does is symbolize its horrific past. By attempting to change the brand’s reputation while keeping its long–used logo, Playboy shows that their rebrand was simply to make the company profitable again.
Through this rebranding, the Playboy bunny is being pushed as a harmless symbol of female sexuality rather than a symbol of abuse—and it’s being increasingly commodified in the process. With Playboy leveraging its memorable logo by collaborating with Pacsun and Dollskill to vintage Playboy shirts being sold on sites like Depop and Poshmark, the company is reemerging as an iconic throwback and shedding its reputation as a former vessel of violence against women.
While some may claim that these collaborations are in the name of “reclaiming female sexuality” by plastering the bunny on traditionally feminine clothing, it’s incredibly disingenuous to push for women to reclaim a symbol of sexual abuse so that the company responsible for this violence can profit from it.
With the Playboy bunny being so intertwined with Playboy’s violent past and Hefner’s acquired wealth, it’s impossible to separate the history of the brand from the logo. Because of this, the continued purchase of clothes adorned with the Playboy logo is an action that implicitly permits the company’s foundations of misogyny and sexual abuse in the name of consumption.
From Playboy’s plans to venture into the NFT and wellness industries, it seems clear that the logo still carries and will continue to wield immense power. Playboy’s rebrand doesn’t make its bunny a symbol of “girl power” or a representation of the “modern, liberated woman.” It merely highlights how carefully–thought–out rebrands to appease modern audiences combined with intense consumerism can sweep anything—even rape—under the rug.
