Miss Springfield
Marge Simpson is next month’s Playboy cover girl. It’s a tribute to the awe-inspiring power of the Simpsons franchise, and a spotlight on the evolution of Playboy from seminal porno publication to lifestyle magazine with benefits.
It’s easy to forget the humble origins of the Simpsons property, which is now a global brand. But back in the day, Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa were poorly animated interstitials on the Tracey Ullman show, a side project for underground (and still very unknown) cartoonist Matt Groening. 20 years later it is the longest-running prime time series in television history, and a marketing asset with sales well over the multi-billion dollar mark (last year alone sales of Simpsons merchandise totaled over $750 million).
Playboy, on the other hand, is a 56-year-old franchise scrambling to stay relevant. The magazine still features the naked pictures that made it famous. But they figured out a while ago that the magazine can’t compete with online porn sites, including, ironically, their own. So now the focus is on liberal, culturally benchmarked editorial that competes with FHM, Maxim and Stuff for the attention of young males.
Hence, the first cartoon character cover in their history.
Putting Marge Simpson on the cover has already delivered results, with more media coverage than any issue has gained in the past 10 years. And I’m guessing it will generate huge newsstand sales, for no other reason than finally revealing if Marge is a natural blunde.
