We just kept seeing it.
Not necessarily in abundance or anything like that, but still…
We did see it often enough for it to pique our curiosity. It was definitely around – there was no denying that. From shirts to socks to other random items of clothing, its presence did not go unnoticed by us.
When I noticed it on the sock of the guy sitting next to me during lunch, I secretly took a picture of it using my iPhone and showed it to my roommate. Is that what I think it is? Hell, we even noticed it on the front of our tour guide’s collared shirt as she was showing us around a hydrology laboratory. Geez, it’s present in lab settings, too? What was going on here?
By now, I'm sure you're wondering what "it" is, right? Well, you don’t have to wonder any further; I'll tell you. The "it" that I am specifically referring to is none other than the simple, easily recognizable, and famous Playboy bunny logo. Yep, you read that right.
Staying true to its image of a cute, little bunny rabbit, the Playboy logo seemingly followed us around, quietly hopping from one random piece of clothing to another. It would appear, then disappear, then reappear out of nowhere, just like a rabbit going in and out of its hole in the ground. However, as fitting as this all may sound from a metaphorical standpoint, the semi-frequent sightings of the bunny logo were weird and out of place to us Americans.
“Is this really a thing over here or what,” we were asking ourselves. “Hmm…”
By “we,” I am referring to the small group of American college students from Western Michigan University I was part of that was studying abroad in China at the time. This was during the first summer semester of 2017. We were over there for two weeks, spending time in both Beijing, the country’s capital, and Lanzhou, a city not as globally known as the capital. For all of us students, it was our first time visiting China.
It was a memorable, stimulating overseas trip filled with new experiences. From the learning to the tourism to the food to meeting new people, the trip was very well-balanced. Still, none of us expected something such as the Playboy logo to pop up from time to time. I guess you just never know what you’ll see when you travel abroad.
In the United States of America, the famous Playboy bunny is synonymous with adult entertainment and eroticism. Fancy mansions, pool parties, girlie magazines, and promiscuity are what we think of when we see it. Take the picture below, for example; it features scantily clad models in bunny outfits who fit Western culture’s standard of beauty. The image is a spot-on representation of what can typically enter the mind of an American consumer when thinking about Playboy.
Such is not the case in China, however. As we would find out toward the end of our trip, Playboy is merely another everyday clothing brand, albeit a popular one. There is nothing raunchy or sexually suggestive about it at all. Who knew? Talk about getting some much-needed closure.
The picture below is a spot-on representation of what Playboy means to the Chinese consumer. Quite different from that first depiction, don’t you think?
So, there you have it. That’s the explanation. Knowledge is power. Cool beans.
Oh, wait. There’s just one more thing I have to add: Shout out to Hugh Hefner!
