Turns out the rumor was true, Penthouse acquired Various, Inc. Various boasts 260 million members and about as many paying members as Match.com, most of the action coming from Adultfriendfinder.
Nice payday for CEO Andrew Conru and his merry band of alternative lifestyle gurus, although not as large as I expected. I wonder how the members of BigChurch feel about the sale? Imagine calling customer support and hearing, “Hello, this is Tiffany at Penthouse, how may I help you?”
When I was a kid my parents encourage me to buy a book when we went to town for the Sunday paper. While browsing the teen fiction aisle, I used to sneak over to the adult magazine rack, hoping to get an eyeful of the pocket-sized Penthouse Forum. Fast forward to today- forget reading titilating stories in a dead-tree media. According to AdultFriendfinder, the pervy Avon lady lives in the next town over and wants to meet you, today.
We’ll see if Penthouse know what it’s doing. Recent bankruptcy and the toning down of Penthouse Magazine to compete with Maxim have placed the organization in uncharted waters.
