Indonesia gets its own Playboy

April 20, 2006

Erwin Arnanda, publisher of the Indonesian version of Playboy magazine, holds the first edition.

A toned-down edition of Playboy went on sale this month in mostly Muslim Indonesia, defying protests from Islamic leaders who have called on the government to ban the magazine.

The magazine does not feature nude women, and its photos of female models are much less risque than those in other magazines already for sale in the country.

Avianto Nugroho, the magazine's promotion manager, said the magazine would go on sale this month.

Similar plana were recently annouced in India where Playboy is hoping to launch another toned-down version is planned to be released soon. However, even Chief Executive Christie Hefner reacted with some reservations about the forthcoming publication.

"This is quite a departure for us," Hefner told the Reuters Media and Advertising Summit. "We are interested in the possibility of going to India, but it wouldn't be what we call classic Playboy.