by muhammad Saleem.

playboy, which has been losing readers and money, is embarking on its biggest expansion yet. the magazine has launched a social networking site with a touch of sexy, called playboyu. the site will focus strictly on college students (like facebook initially did).

“This is one brand that is relevant to 18 through 81-year-olds,” said Scott Stephen, executive vice president of operations for Playboy’s entertainment division. “We’re looking at this as a way to introduce and escort someone through their adult life.”

it makes sense that the company would try to regain its momentum by attempting to ride the coattails of the hottest trend on the web right now, but at the same time i don’t see them being very successful. even though the social network won’t have anything to do with pornography/erotica the stigma associated with the brand should be enough to prevent most people from signing up and publicly associating themselves with it.

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