The Bunnies Aren't Rabbits?! Playboy TV Fined for Explicit Content
UK Media Regulator Blindsided by Explicit Content in "Sexy Girls Next Door"
Playboy Television has been fined by a British media agency for what can only be described as a Trojan-horse style assault on unsuspecting UK living rooms: sneaking sexually explicit and offensive images into programs called "Sexy Girls Next Door", "Sexy Urban Legends", "and "Adult Stars Close-Up."
According to Reuters, the fine was levied by Ofcom (the UK's answer to the FCC) and amounted to 22,500 pounds -- about $33,000, or what Playboy founder Hugh Hefner likes to call "what I make in the time it takes Miss February to help me put on my diamond-encrusted pajamas."
Despite the fine, Ofcom's phones weren't exactly deluged with those charming UK double-rings. The agency received a mere five complaints about the free-to-air Playboy programs over a 10-month period. Cheeky Brits. But now seems like a good time to step in and offer some ideas for cleaned-up versions of the programs (sorry, "programmes"):
Before: "Sexy Girls Next Door"
After: "Documentary: Growing Up Next Door to Janet Reno"
Before: "Sexy Urban Legends"
After: "A Creepy But Non-Sexual Thing That Totally Happened to Your Sister's Boss's Yoga Instructor's Cousin"
Before: "Adult Stars Close-Up"
After: "Adult Stars in Sensible Pantsuits, Through Low-Powered Binoculars"
- Reuters: Playboy TV Fined Over Explicit Content
- BBC News: Playboy TV Fined Over Sex Scenes
- FindLaw's Writ: Four TV Networks Challenge the FCC's Regulation of Indecency
- About Ofcom (ofcom.org.uk)