Angus’ A-Z of logos: Playboy

Pentagram partner and creative director Angus Hyland discusses the success of the Playboy bunny, a logo that has become world-famous since its debut in the early 1950s.

Brands are powerful indicators of social history, so it follows that when society undergoes profound change, brands must evolve alongside it – or risk becoming obsolete, irrelevant or even extinct.

When Playboy was at its height in the 1960s, it was not just a symbol of erotica and glamour, but a cultural icon that reflected the changing social landscape. The magazine, along with its brand extensions- clubs, casinos and merchandise – embodied the era's evolving desires, needs and aspirations.

Playboy has been suffering a gentle decline since its heyday in the 1970s. The magazine peaked with a circulation of seven million (eventually becoming an online-only publication in 2020), and the last club closed its doors in 1988. What finally finished the printed magazine off was probably the ability to view porn instantly and for free on your phone or laptop.

The Playboy logo has remained pretty much untouched since it first appeared in 1953. The logo was originally designed by the magazine’s art director, Art Paul, as an endnote, which is the little symbol that shows you’ve reached the end of an article. The visual embodiment of the magazine’s name, it features a jaunty-eared rabbit sporting a bow tie. Neatly hopping across the gender divide, it’s also the inspiration for the female ‘Playboy Bunnies’ who served cocktails at the Playboy clubs wearing corsets, bow ties, rabbit ears, a cute fluffy tail (and not much else).

Playboy itself is certainly a different animal these days, with an emphasis on lifestyle and wellness and a new magazine planned for 2025 that will once again feature the famous Playboy ‘Playmate’ centrefold. While the business may have changed, the Playboy logo remains a big source of merchandising revenue. Huge amounts of money are generated by licensing the famous rabbit logo, but over the years it has become something of a zombie brand, dramatically removed from what it originally stood for. Almost like a grown-up version of Hello Kitty, it can mean whatever you want it to.

Attitudes to sex have seismically shifted since the 1950s, and alongside this through sites such as Pornhub and Only Fans, access to viewing and making pornography has dramatically increased. But somehow despite all these changes, the ‘naughty but nice’ (and very lucrative) Playboy bunny symbol has remained a constant.