Crap Detector: Olivia Munn non-nude Playboy pictorial reeks of shameless self-promotion
Gamer fantasy gal Olivia Munn is now a Playboy cover girl.
If you’re a gamer/techie, Olivia Munn should be a familiar face, especially for regular viewers of Attack of the Show, a program for the G4 cable channel. Olivia is one of the better-looking hosts of G4, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see her move up.
And move up, Olivia did. Recently, the G4 host landed a stint with Playboy, that magazine that shows women’s private bits. What made Olivia’s pictorial special (or controversial, depending on how you see it) is that she didn’t bare anything compromising.
You read that right—there is no nudity in Olivia Munn’s Playboy pictorial. A rarity indeed.
You certainly can’t blame Playboy for trying. Despite having agreed that Munn won’t be shot in the nude, Playboy’s photographers kept egging the starlet to wear outfits that leave nothing to the imagination. Olivia told Kotaku that the issue ended with her publicist and stylist “screaming at each other.”
Here’s the crappy part: the issue isn’t about Olivia not wanting to reveal her girly parts. In fact, I commend her for sticking to her guns despite the perseverance of Playboy’s stylists to get her naked. But here’s the problem: the pictorial is for Playboy.
Playboy has been showing pictures of naked women for the past 55 years. I don’t think I need to get into the magazine’s history, but you should at least be aware of what the publication does. If Olivia didn’t want to pose nude, she shouldn’t have done a pictorial with Playboy.
If Olivia Munn would insist on getting some coverage on Playboy, then an interview should be enough.
The whole deal stinks of shameless self-promotion on Munn’s part. She wants the spotlight, to show that she’s cover girl material, that she’s not limited to Attack of the Show. Nothing wrong with that, right? Of course!
However, deceiving people for shameless self-promotion on Playboy, for taking advantage of a demographic (i.e. millions of young male gamers/techies) that would be drooling over the idea of a nude Olivia Munn is downright loathsome. Munn’s self-promotion is as shameless as Kim Kardashian’s attention-seeking shenanigans.
So Olivia, props to you for sticking to your guns. Just pick a more appropriate venue for shameless self-promotion the next time.
Popularity: 68% [?]
June 24th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Pretty cool post. I just came across your site and wanted to say
that I’ve really liked reading your blog posts. Anyway
I’ll be subscribing to your blog and I hope you post again soon!
[Reply]
July 11th, 2009 at 1:59 am
A lot of women, A LOT OF WOMEN, have done pictorials for playboy where they don’t show their naughty parts. Playboy does it all the time to sell more issues to people outside of their subscription base. It’s what you should expect when you hear someone like her is posing for playboy.
[Reply]
July 11th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Care to qualify how many women are “A LOT OF WOMEN”? Do you have figures to back that up? What you’ve just did is use weasel words (i.e. vague generalizations) without supporting facts.
I, on the other hand, have 55 years worth of history to support my statement that Playboy is all about women showing their naughty parts.
[Reply]
July 24th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Way to go arguing this case man! Hahaha
[Reply]
July 26th, 2009 at 8:54 am
I have to agree here. While yes, there have been some people who made the cover of Playboy without appearing naked in it, (Jessica Alba & Paris Hilton come to mind), I don’t think there has been ANYONE who appeared on the cover of Playboy AND did a pictorial with them WITHOUT showing nudity - until Olivia. The covers with Alba & Hilton did not have any nude pics of them in it but they also didn’t agree to have pictures taken of them by the magazine. Olivia Munn did.
Normally, when someone appears on the cover of Playboy AND agrees to have them shoot a pictorial of them in it, they usually appear naked or at least topless like Cindy Crawford, Shannon Doherty, Pamela Anderson & numerous others have done. For Olivia Munn not to show any nudity for a magazine that’s known for exclusive nudity seems like a bait & switch. Plus we’re talking Olivia Munn here! A somewhat cute host of a show on the G4 Network! If it were Scarlett Johansson or Hayden Pannettiere arguing over nudity, I could see that. But a 2nd rate host on a 3rd rate network channel? You’d think she would want all the publicity she could get!
[Reply]
July 27th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
@ Volchkov
Thank you. Prosecution rests.
[Reply]
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:07 am
Please stop.
Given the almost universal access to all media it really doesn’t matter where a story starts. Case in point: The amount of “ink” you’re giving this “story.”
Do you really think your blog is the only coverage outside of the realm of Playboy to print this “scoop?”
I assume you’d agree that her no nudity “caveat” got your attention but more importantly, it reached an initial audience that your blog never would — and then the story spread. Everywhere.
The point is that she didn’t do a nude pictorial AND She apparently proved that she can make even the mighty Heffner bend.
I know holding people’s feet to the fire is your “job” BUT the Copyright © 2009 Mike Got Game! - All Rights Reserved — footer says you’re not exactly an introvert — and you seem too intelligent to ignore how difficult it is to “climb the ladder” in front of everyone.
Sometimes it’s necessary to be charitable enough to take a wider view. Ms. Munn may actually be one of the good ones.
Dwilder
[Reply]
Mike Reply:
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Then why Playboy? Why not some other more influential magazine? Don’t tell me Playboy is the only influential publication out there that’s capable of giving Munn the self promotion that she needs.
[Reply]
November 9th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
i disagree with your conclusion…olivia munn stated from the beginning that she was doing a non-nude shoot, so her “fans” would know what they are getting when they buy the mag…and while i agree that historically playboy has featured women in the nude, i also know that playboy is struggling and is looking for ways to be more relevant…hence the munn cover & subsequent cover featuring marge simpson…i’d also like to add this: according to ms munn, playboy had approached here several times about appearing in the mag, but she always refused. when they agreed she could do a non-nude shoot only then did she agree to do the shoot.
[Reply]
Mike Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
What could be more relevant than getting nekkid?
[Reply]