Talk:Playboy Bunny

Costume colours
Playboy bunnies had a wide variety of colours for their costumes. Do these colours mean anything (rank, area of work, etc)? Should the article cover this? --Zoe.R 22:25, 8 January 2007 (UTC) Answer: Bunnies can choose the prefered colour of thier choice. Originally, there were 12 colours and 12 sizes. Foriegn-born Bunnies that worked the Plush or VIP rooms wore elegant blue with silver trim. Jet Bunnies wore slick black. A wide variety of styles were added much later. The most popular colours were red, blue and green. For more information, i suggest you to read, ''The Bunny Years, the suprising insde story of the Playboy clubs: The women who worked as Bunnies and where they are now. By Kathryn Leigh Scott''. (she was a Playboy Bunny herself, this book is probably the most accurate you can come across to. It's very enjoyable to read.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.107.142.1 (talk) 03:09, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Barbara Walters
If there are no sources for the contention that Barbara Walters was a Playboy Bunny, then I think that claim should be rejected out of hand. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.17.198.239 (talk) 23:55, 5 April 2007 (UTC).

Barbara Walters donned the bunny costume for a segment she filmed for NBC's Today show. She went through bunny boot camp and spent some time on the floor of the Club. Video of the story can be found on Today's website. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.132.1.10 (talk) 03:04, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Shawn Southwick & Kimba Wood
Added Shawn Southwick to the "famous Bunny" list. Shawn Southwick, now Shawn King, is the present wife of the well known CNN talk host, Larry King. Secondly, I pointed out that Kimba Wood was only a Playboy Bunny trainee. Joe Gatt 12:57, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Deleting apparently bogus references
Under Bunnies who became Playmates, there are two entries for Katie Keyser and Kate Fahy. These show up as uncreated pages. As far as I can determine, all playmates have at least a stub page, so any page that's unreferenced is apparently bogus. I reviewed the page edit logs, and both entries were created by one-time contributors (one by "Bunny101" and the other by an IP address), many months ago, so I'm concluding that some people had fun listing themselves or their friends in this entry. GreatScott 04:21, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Gloria Steinem went undercover as a playboy bunny in order to investigate the conditions that the bunnies worked under. What where her findings? Wouldn't her findings and any rebuttal or whatever be relavant to this article?

208.53.104.68 (talk) 19:08, 25 January 2008 (UTC)amyanda2000


 * The Article she wrote was called “I Was a Playboy Bunny,” and published in 1963. I can't seem to find anything in depth and directly related to the article she wrote however. But it's out there. Tonerman (talk) 19:30, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

The 1963 article was reprinted in her 1983 book "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions". However, anyone who has watched "Mad Men" knows that working conditions in 1963 are a far cry from 1983 or 2013. Also, despite the advent of "Reality TV, I hope that most people would realize than showing up unenthused for a few weeks (of mostly training) at a job is hardly the same experience as people who actually work at a job, as described by dozens of Bunnies in Kathryn Leigh Scott's "The Bunny Years" (a book which has a time frame that that ends before my experience as a Bunny).

On the topic of bogus references, I'd like to question the inclusion of this sentence: Clive James wrote of the "callous fatuity of the selection process" and observed that, "to make it as a Bunny, a girl need[ed] more than just looks. She need[ed] idiocy, too."[7]

I'm a former bunny, who has helped with reunion organizing (and spoken to Bunnies from many clubs and eras) and I have read a number of books about the Playboy Corporation and through this I am familiar with many of the names of important people in the corporation's history but I had no idea who this quoted person might be. I followed the links to Clive James' Wikipedia page and learned that he was a TV critic and the only connection to Playboy that was apparent, was that he once critiqued a documentary on Hugh Hefner. I was wondering why exactly this would make him a quotable source on hiring practices for Bunnies? If a critic watched "The Right Stuff" he might have an opinion on hiring and training of U.S.Astronauts, but I doubt that he would be cited as an expert about the subject. Wikipedia wants to be a credible source, and I don't beleive that such a tenuous link as "I once watched a TV show tangentially related to it"Italic text is really the kind of academically rigororous sourcing that will make Wikipedia's critics take it more seriously.

Here are some of the credible books I have read on the topic, not to advertise amazon but I'm not familiar with wikipedia and I am having trouble getting other links tp work here.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0030637481/ref=gl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=NSOFGNRCUC0Y&coliid=I38ST38RZQ7RC7

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0195386108/ref=gl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=NSOFGNRCUC0Y&coliid=I33OTZIIDK8BJE

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0615375707/ref=gl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=NSOFGNRCUC0Y&coliid=I2OUY3V0EQGM7E

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0938817434/ref=gl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=NSOFGNRCUC0Y&coliid=IMI1DNMK1YP1R

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0811872262/ref=gl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=NSOFGNRCUC0Y&coliid=I3GGH0HVZTF1RX

you already have the best website information linked in the article, explayboybunnies.com - I think most readers can agree that people who worked for the clubs probably know a bit more about hiring than some random TV critic.

Patent Number
This patent number, 0762884, in both the official record and mirrors points to that of a milk can.... Thats not the outfit, can any clarification on this number be added? Whats the source? 141.219.76.50 (talk) 12:51, 20 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Its the trademark number, not the patent number, its the image of the bunnies not the design of thier suit (though I am sure thats probably patented somewhere), perhaps we should clairify? Chase-san (talk) 23:50, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Present day club
Does anyone know if there are Bunnies working in the Playboy Club that's operating currently in Vegas? --Bernardoni (talk) 21:51, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

The Las Vegas Playboy club closed June 2nd, 2012 - --Ron (talk) 20:05, 19 June 2012 (UTC)

There are still clubs operating in London and Mexico as of 3/2014. Rumors of other locations under consideration persist. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Anaid7919 (talk • contribs) 02:20, 8 March 2014 (UTC)

Lack of sources in the introduction?
The introduction (before the subsections) seems to be based on very subjective opinions, especially the last few sentences. Could these be backed up with sources or, if possible, a section be made concerning Gloria Steinem's expose of the Playboy Bunnies' treatment to balance the introduction? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.79.144.185 (talk) 16:36, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Dating
The passage "dating was strictly forbidden" is not consistent with the next passage, which says that it was partly alowed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.177.171.194 (talk) 12:35, 30 March 2010 (UTC)

The inconsistencies are due to the fact that the dating policy changed over the years. I feel confident in stating without citing sources that any company that has been operating since the 1950s has had changes in HR policies. In fact, a very early change was made in direct response to Gloria Steinem's complaint aobut having to go to a doctor's exam for a waitress job; the criticism was acknowledged as legitimate and the exams were immediately done away with. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Anaid7919 (talk • contribs) 02:13, 8 March 2014 (UTC)

Male Bunnies?
I saw a picture in Playboy Magazine of a woman and a man wearing new, updated Bunny costumes. IIRC his outfit was smooth black pants with tail, a white fronted vest, collar, cuffs and ears. Were there ever any male Bunnies in the clubs or did that idea go nowhere? Bizzybody (talk) 06:09, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

In the 1980s there was an unsuccessful introduction of male servers in the NYC and LA clubs,

Bunny Photograph Regarding the photograph of three Bunnies taken in 2011 at the Mansion. These are not real Bunnies. These are models dressed in Bunny costumes. If you want a photo of authentic Bunnies it would be best to use a photo of the original Bunnies working in one of the original clubs. My source is that I am a Former Bunny who worked in the Baltimore Club in 1964-1965. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.5.47.45 (talk) 22:17, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

I also wish that one of the many photos of women who actually worked as bunnies was used rather than a pic of Playmates dressed in a bunny costume. Bunnies have enough misunderstandings with people who cannot differentiate between Playmates and Bunnies, and there are literally thousands of other more accurate photos available for use. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Anaid7919 (talk • contribs) 02:17, 8 March 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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Zelda Wynn Valdes
It seems that, with the recent passing of Hugh Hefner, some fresh info was released on the creator of the original bunny costume, which would be Zelda Wynn Valdes. According to this 2017 article of the Observer: «Misinformation on the origin of the Playboy Bunny costume has circulated with the LA Times stating in 2005 that it was “reportedly designed by the girlfriend of a Playboy executive and her mother”» «So why are people just now hearing about Valdes and her contribution to one of the biggest moguls of the twentieth century? In 2016 the Museum at FIT debuted their “Black Fashion Designers” exhibit which aimed to place black designers front and center, highlighting the figures behind historic costumes and brands.[...] Valdes was one of the designers featured and for many visitors of the museum, it was the first time learning about the woman behind the Playboy Bunny uniform.» --Qwacker (talk) 01:33, 29 June 2018 (UTC)

Name inspired by Bunny's Tavern
Hi everyone.

The article is currently saying that "Hugh Hefner, has stated that the idea for the Playboy bunny was inspired by Bunny's Tavern in Urbana, Illinois. Bunny's Tavern was named after the original owner Bernard "Bunny" Fitzsimmons, who opened the restaurant publicly in 1936. [...] Hefner formally acknowledged the origin of the Playboy Bunny in a letter to Bunny's Tavern, which is now framed and on public display in the bar.". This information has been added on the 3rd of May 2010 by with no references. On the 7th of May 2011 someone wrote that the outfit was used in that tavern (it has been slightly modified by on the 29 October 2020).

The same information has been reported by a book published in 2011 using the same words. An article of the New Straits Times dated 22 January 2011 stated that "Playboy creator Hugh Hefner was reported to have said the Playboy Bunny was inspired by the Bunny’s Tavern in Illinois, US" (this article has been used by the Catalan Wikipedia since then). The Sun wrote an article in September 2017 too (copied by the New York Post). I do not find anything older than 2011. In my opinion the first time this has been reported is here, on the English Wikipedia, and all the sources that I found could possibly generate a case of Citogenesis if used.

We should also ask ourselves if it is actually true. We know that the costume has been inspired by the Playboy mascot used since 1953, as explained by Victor Lownes (in The day the bunny died, L. Stuart, 1983, pp. 39-40). Why Hefner should have been inspired by the name of Bunny Fitzsimmons for the costume of the waitresses when he already had a bunny for his enterprise? It could be interesting to read the letter in which Hefner "formally acknowledged the origin of the Playboy Bunny [...] framed and on public display in the bar". Luckily a photo of it has been uploaded on Flickr. Unluckily there is a lot of noise in that photo and the letter is difficult to read. This is what I have been able to read: Dear ..., I wanted to thank you for continuing the long tradition of Bunny's. It has been a long time since the day I was ... ... at the University of Illinois, I can still remember having cocktails with Bunny Fitzsimmons after class. I ... ... the story is still being told how your establishment gave me my idea which turned into more than 45 years of magazines that include the type of Bunnys [ sic?] all men ... enjoy. If you are able to fill the gap, feel free to do it.

As far as I understand, he is not talking of the Playboy Bunnies who worked in the clubs. He is simply referring to the magazine in a very general way, but he is not saying that the costume and the waitresses have been inspired by it.

I would like to know your opinion on this. In the following days I will remove this information from the Italian Wikipedia (in that case I actually created citogenesis using The Sun article). Thank you, --Martin Mystère (talk) 18:46, 28 August 2021 (UTC)
 * I deleted that paragraph. --Martin Mystère (talk) 13:53, 5 September 2021 (UTC)

Tone and Formality
Hi Wikipedians,

I hope you do not mind but I made some slight adjustments to the article. I altered some of the writing to be more formal in tone with less of a narrative quality. I also changed some instances that just state "Bunnies" to the full name "Playboy Bunnies". Feel free to edit any of these altercations if you see fit. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sugarplumz (talk • contribs) 05:42, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

"Origins" Lacks Dates
I cannot find one key piece of information in this article: a date. When was the Playboy Bunny costume first created and/or introduced? PlaysInPeoria (talk) 18:42, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

"👯‍♂️" listed at Redirects for discussion
The redirect [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%F0%9F%91%AF%E2%80%8D%E2%99%82%EF%B8%8F&redirect=no 👯‍♂️] has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached. Qwerfjkl talk  17:32, 10 October 2023 (UTC)