Playboy Magazine: Online Casting via Webcam

A cover opportunity becomes a browser moment. Instead of going to a studio, aspiring models do a remote “photo session” through their own webcam, then turn the best shots into an online book that friends can vote on.

For the first time any woman, wherever she is, can make an online photo session and be on the cover of Playboy Magazine. How does it work. The virtual Playboy photographer takes the pictures of the aspiring models through their own webcam. When they finish they are asked to make an online book with the best pictures. After which they can invite their friends to vote.

The next Playboy Girl is chosen from the favorites on the casting site www.castingplayboy.com.

A photoshoot that travels without travel

The mechanism is a simple funnel. capture content at home, curate a lookbook, then recruit votes. That flips casting from a closed process into something participatory and shareable.

In global media and entertainment marketing, turning selection into a public vote is a reliable way to convert curiosity into distribution.

Why the vote loop is the real engine

The webcam shoot creates the raw material, but the “invite friends” step is what scales it. Each participant has a reason to share, and every share acts as both promotion for the participant and promotion for the casting platform itself.

Definition-tightening: this is not just online casting. It is user-generated content plus social voting, packaged as a competition where the audience becomes the amplification layer.

What Playboy is really buying

This is reach and data wrapped in a story. The brand gets a stream of self-produced submissions, a measurable popularity signal through voting, and a campaign that spreads through personal networks rather than paid media alone.

What to steal for your next casting-style activation

  • Let people create at the edge. Reduce friction by allowing participation from home.
  • Force curation. A “best of” book is stronger than raw uploads and easier to judge.
  • Build in recruiting. Voting should be the default next step, not an optional extra.
  • Make the prize visible. Publication and status often motivate more than cash.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the core idea behind this Playboy online casting?

A virtual webcam photo session followed by a curated online book and friend-driven voting, turning casting into a shareable competition.

Why does the lookbook step matter?

It forces participants to curate their best shots, which improves quality and makes the submission easier to view and judge.

What makes social voting effective in campaigns like this?

It creates a built-in distribution loop. Participants recruit friends to vote, and those invites function as campaign media.

What is the biggest execution risk?

If the upload, curation, or voting flow feels slow or confusing, people drop out before they share. The funnel has to be fast and obvious.

How do you keep the brand connected to the participant story?

Make the branded environment where submissions live feel premium and consistent, so every share sends people back into the brand’s world.

Kit Kat: Jesus Loves Kit Kat

When a bite turns into a “sighting”

Every so often the internet latches onto a “miracle” story. This one starts with a simple, everyday moment. Someone takes a bite of a Kit Kat, and suddenly the bite pattern is framed as a face. Cue the inevitable question. Is it real, or is it just our brains doing what they always do with patterns?

Either way, the punchline lands immediately because the brand line is already waiting for it. Jesus loves Kit Kat. Have a break. Have a Kit Kat.

The stunt behind the headline

The mechanism is a simple one. Take a familiar cultural pattern. The “miraculous sighting” story. Then attach it to an everyday object and let curiosity do the distribution work.

In European FMCG marketing, low-budget PR seeding can outperform paid media when the story is easy to retell and the brand cue is unmistakable.

In this case, the campaign is described as being kick-started by sending a tip to major Dutch news sites about a “Jesus face” discovered in a bitten Kit Kat, complete with “proof” photos. Once the story lands, the audience spreads it for free, partly to react, partly to mock, and partly to forward the joke.

Why it lands: the audience writes the punchline

It works because the viewer instantly knows what to do with it. “Is it real” is the hook. “Obviously not” is the release. Then the slogan becomes the comment section fuel, because “Have a break” and “Give me a break” are ready-made responses that keep repeating the brand.

What the brand is really buying

This is not persuasion. It is memory and talk value. The goal is to force a moment of attention in a low-involvement category, then lock the attention to a slogan people already know well enough to quote without effort.

What to steal if you want earned reach without begging for it

  • Use a story shape people already recognise. Familiar formats travel faster than “new idea” explanations.
  • Make the brand cue inseparable from the joke. If the gag works without the product, you are funding entertainment, not brand recall.
  • Design for repeatable phrasing. The best hooks come with a built-in line people will type in their own words.
  • Know the risk. Hoax-style PR can backfire if your category depends on trust, seriousness, or institutional credibility.

A few fast answers before you act

What is happening in “Jesus Loves Kit Kat”?

A playful “sighting” style story frames a bitten Kit Kat as if it reveals a face, and the curiosity and debate around it drives sharing.

What is the core mechanism?

PR seeding plus a familiar meme-like story format. People click to judge it, then share to react, mock, or pass along the joke.

Why does this kind of story travel fast?

Because it is easy to retell and invites opinion. The audience becomes the distributor by arguing about whether it is “real”.

What is the brand risk to watch?

Hoax-style hooks can backfire in categories where trust and seriousness matter. The technique needs category-fit and tone discipline.

What is the most transferable takeaway?

If you use a cultural format people already recognise, make sure the brand cue is inseparable from the punchline, otherwise the joke outlives the brand.