NEW VOTING INCENTIVE! MAY IS EVERYWHERE!!
April showers bring May flowers, so…
CHECK OUT THE BOUNTIFUL BLOSSOMS!!!
As for this comic…
I realize this entire joke is age-gated, in that no one under the age of about forty can even comprehend the humor. But c’est la vie. Those who are too young to even vaguely remember the popular discourse around Playboy magazine in its heyday will not, cannot get the punch line. But that’s me: unfailingly pursuing the young, cool demographic and pandering to the kids at every turn. That’s why they let me cook with all this rizz I got going on.
By the way, I wanted to say a big thanks to the people who decided to become a Puck patron on Patreon last week after tales of my financial woes. Not expected, not necessary, but greatly appreciated. Shout out to new patrons Ethan Hobson, Tim Erickson, Robert Kranc and John Carr. And thanks to all my longstanding patrons, who are legion. You keep the lights on for this comic, and I keep comicking specifically because of you.
I’m only 35, but I get the punchline. I don’t know why I get the punchline. I’ve never read nor seen anyone read playboy.
… probably The Simpsons, my source for 80% pop culture references pre-2007 or so..
Thank goodness for the Simpsons, informing future generations of that which should be preserved.
A little bit extra explanation to the trope: Although the magazine absolutely is about the “other” content, throughout most of its history, Playboy has had a very strong editorial traditiion. The articles legitimately were, at least as late as the 90s, a real reason to read Playboy Magazine.
You absolutely weren’t going to just for the articles, that was always a joke/lie (depending on who/why). But between novel previews/serializations (such as the 1954 serialization of Fahrenheit 451), legit major interviews (enough that they published a collection of them in 1992), and everything else? Yeah, it was worth actually putting your literacy to work.
Nicely put.
to go further into joke territory, supposedly until the late 80’s early 90’s Playboy was translated into braille funded in part by the US government. so the one group of people who really were actually reading it for the articles, couldn’t anymore.
One should not ignore good ads if the sales are worth looking into.
There are no sales in bridal magazines. Just ‘brand awareness’ ads from dress companies and DeBeers and the like. It’s a weird world.
The exact opposite. All products or services intended for a wedding have their prices jacked up to roughly double. That includes renting the venue, the cake, all flower displays, decorations, the catered food… and let’s not forget a dress meant to be worn once selling for the price of a gently-used car.
Some people try to fake out the vendors by claiming they’re booking a “large birthday party”, but the success rate for that is not good.
It’s referred to as “The Wedding Tax”.
It’s a real thing. And takes Herculean efforts to avoid when you’re getting married.
TWC is still being flaky, as in I had to change browsers and log on to be able to vote.
Sorry. I cannot speak to the insanity of TWC. Would be nice if they got their stuff together.
I’m not exactly sure, but wasn’t Stephen King in Playboy (in print) at one time or something?
First in 1983, most recently in 2016, according to Wikipedia. Possibly even more recent, but I’m surprised enough that not even 10 years ago Playboy still seems to be serious about its editorial and literary content to go make a deeper check.
Name a prominent male writer active in the 60s and 70s, and he was in Playboy. Jack Kerouac, Kurt Vonnegut, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ronald Dahl(!)…. It was a weird time.
“Roots” author Alex Haley wrote a number of highly significant interviews for Playboy featuring some of the 60s and 70s most influential and controversial people of the day — MLK, Malcolm X, Miles Davis, Muhammed Ali, and others. Reading Playboy “for the articles,” was a common joke but it truly was a respected source of literary, political and social commentary. Being an ancient fairy of lore, I’m sure Puck probably read Playboy in its heyday… if only for the articles.
I doubt Puck read it. But she was around for it.
Puck could have been featured if it was still around
(serious waifu for Puck as IRL petite redheads are my type)
Doubt she’d jive with the vibe of the publication. But perhaps.
Ray Bradbury was one I remember getting started that way.
Ursula K. LeGuin had a story in Playboy in the early seventies…but it was published under the name “U. K. LeGuin”…
I learned about Dahl publishing in Playboy when I was shelving books at a thrift store. I was about to put “My Uncle Oswald” into the children’s section, next to “Charlie And The Chocolate Factory”, but Praise Dog! I flipped through the pages first.
The stories ARE hilarious (in the style of the period which has plusses and minusses) but very much NOT for the children’s section. It was basically reprints of some Playboy shorts.
Is this Bridal Magazine a hint of things to come?
Of course it is. Chekhov’s bridal magazine.
I think it actually says that above Bride on the magazine.
“I do read Playboy for the articles! . . . eventually.”
Exactly.
The pictures are just a…delightful bonus.
I would rather see ads in a dead-tree publication than pop-up ads ALL OVER my computer/tablet/phone screens.
Even in Hamilton’s daily newspaper (which I still, for some unknown reason, I still read online) seems to have more ad content than actual news and editorial content – at least online.
I still get the Hamilton Spectator IN PRINT! Seriously. Not sure why. (I need something to line green cart bags, mostly.)
There are popup blockers for computers. No ad blockers for dead-tree publications, meanwhile.
As an IT tech, I’m well aware of the various ways of blocking ads and the like. It’s come down to a war of attrition between my blockers and the ads, making it take forever to load a page. The thing that annoys me is that even though I have an online subscription (paid) I STILL cannot use an ad-blocker for the newspaper.
@EG – nothing to be ashamed of.
I don’t really know and get this joke as a result of remembering its real origins, but I think I can say with some confidence that it made it into general pop culture. I’ve seen it played various ways and it is a good joke, a versatile joke, that may well stand when Playboy is known only by historians specialized in the era of printed media or such.
Thank goodness for cultural preservation of long-dead concepts. Like how the universal symbol for ‘phone call’ is still a landline handset.
Save icon: 3.5″ floppy diskette. And be glad it’s not a 5.25″.
I’ve heard they STILL use the 3.5″ floppies in Japan to this day. Hard to use, I’d think, given the 1.44 meg file size limit.
And fax machines. Japanese business culture is more or less the military joke “hurry up and wait.” If they change, they go right up to the most modern thing or invent the next thing, but then they’ll stick with that exact thing until forced out of it, kicking and screaming.
for the articles of clothing depicted therein
Give this man a prize. That’s genius.
Can’t wait for those wedding bells to be ringing.
Tracee’s going to get excited, isn’t she?
ME TOOOOOOO! 🙂 No pressure.
Indeed.
You know I keep forgetting that Puck and Colin aren’t actually married.
To be fair I think at the very least they’d likely be considered as being in a common law marriage by now.
I don’t think Ontario recognizes that except in a limited sense (spousal support and parental rights, I think).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage#Legislation
You and everybody else.
Are we going to see a possible bridezilla brouhaha surrounding Puck, Daphne, Tracee and Phoebe go dress shopping. One that may be possibly, and coincidentally led by Colin’s sister?
I think something akin to something like that is inevitable.
Print media – aka the only media of any real or legitimate standing.
Anybody can publish electronically. And it just sits there among the flotsam. You point it out to someone and you get a diffident nod.
But to have someone select your writing, then give it the Tiffany treatment of putting it into print on matte or glossy finish backed with full color photography.
You show that to someone and there’s prestige in their reaction.
“OH, it’s in print. You must really be a writer of some note.”
Its enough to keep it in pristine shape in your personal collection.
PRINT – Still the ONLY media that’s worthwhile.
I personally share that opinion. Though the number of people who care to actually buy print media shrinks with each passing day. As a high school English teacher, I can sadly report that most of the book suppliers we used to order from have shut down. It confuses me because I’d think, out of all the booksellers, the ones catering to schools would be best insulated against failure. But no. Schools are not ordering books anymore. (I mean, my school is, but I guess we’re in the minority.)
Considering the cost of textbooks and the fairly constant need to update them – (Especially those red state history textbooks scrubbing – I mean, amending – those facts that give immigrants of European descent guilt pangs and bad feels.) – I’m not all that surprised schools have gone to e-versions.
I’ll bet anything there’s a generation of students whose knowledge of America’s westward expansion is mostly attributable to “The Oregon Trail” video game.
They don’t buy e-versions either, though. Around here they’re going to a ‘book less’ strategy where literacy skills are thrown out the window in favour of “multimedia literacy”. God save us.
That’s disappointing.
This is why the Caesar and the Apes take over as the dominant species and humans become mute idiots.
if its REAL media literacy I’d be happier. but it won’t be because then its more likely they’d recognize some of the common tricks used to keep people hooked on crap.
I’d think they’d be one of the most vulnerable. Schools are exceedingly price concious.
Q: Why are bridal magazines 100% ads?
A: Because 110% ads is impossible.
*rimshot!*
That’s facts.
many many moons ago there was a computer magazine that had soo many adds… the articles were themselves adds.
I’m going to go order someone off my lawn now.
And the ads were why you bought it!
A hot chick on a cool car, who could ask for more? 🙂
I could go for some ice cream. Personally speaking.
@EG, I see what you did there. Ice cream’s all right. 😉 (I’m very fond of ice cream too.)