Playboy mansion for Macao – but will anyone go?

Playboy magazine has seen its sales decimated on one end by by crass lads mags like FHM, and on the other end by easily available Internet pornography.

However, the magazine’s name and it bunny logo remain widely recognized from Australia to Zambia. The group, under the leadership of Hugh Hefner’s daughter Christy, is therefore putting money into its other lines of business: namely Internet, video, and the Playboy branded clothing line.

In addition, Playboy has started opening Playboy clubs again. The original chain of clubs ran from 1960 to 1988, mostly in the U.S., and were a major source of income for the Playboy empire. After opening a new Playboy Club in Las Vegas last year, the famous bunny is bound for China.

Christy Hefner recently announced plans to build a Playboy club in Macao. Variety magazine said that Playboy Enterprises and Macao Studio City had joined forces to open up a “Playboy Mansion … described variously as a ‘club’ and a ‘multi-faceted entertainment destination’.”

It will be interesting to see if it works: in a city full of brothels, will the prospect of being served cocktails by girls dressed as bunnies have any appeal for the punters?

In unrelated news, a Danwei source close to the Wynn casino in Macao has reported the the new American-owned gambling houses are currently getting the jitters: the Mainland authorities have slowed down the processing of travel permits to Macao, which has drastically reduced the house takings of the clutch of new casinos in the city.

If you want to see what some of the new casinos look like, below is a Danwei video shot about a year ago in Macao.

UPDATE: Philip S. sent email noting that Playboy.com is currently accessible in China. It is not clear when the long-standing block on the website was removed, but the unblocking may be a temporary typical glitch.