SAN FRANCISCO - Australian Footballers Naked For a Cause, a 2008/2009 calendar, has arrived in the U.S. Prerogatives LLC is the exclusive importer and distributor.
"When the sample arrived from Australia, we couldn't believe our eyes and began calling everyone we knew [to tell them] another exquisitely photographed and produced calendar of rugby players in the buff [was available]," said Prerogatives marketing director Robert Bass. "The Aussie footballers are stunning, [and] it's an absolutely gorgeous calendar. Naked For a Cause is the creation of Sydney-based photographer Pedro Virgil who has done a ‘naked rugby calendar' for several years now. This is first time the annual calendar will be for sale in the US.
"Virgil, a commercial and fine art photographer, is a master of the conceptual," Bass continued. "Every image is a scene, a tableau, perfectly framed, beautifully lit, crackling with energy and sexual possibility. Many of the athletes - average age 22 - are glistening with sweat, smudged with dirt, or sport mad/gorgeous ink. Our favorite is the image of 22-year-old Heath L'Estrange, photographed in a white-tiled shower room. The footie player's naughty bits are hidden by his pose, from the side, accentuating his massive thighs and tight butt."
Sales of the calendar benefit an Australian breast-health non-profit.
Prerogatives also is the exclusive importer and distributor of the Dieux du Stade 2008 calendar, an annual soft-porn celebration of nude European rugby players. The two projects draw comparisons, of course.
According to Bass, "We were delighted to discover a similar-but-unique, collectible-quality calendar this season. These are ‘calendars' in name only: The days of the month appear on narrow horizontal strips at the top of each page so as not to distract from the stunning photographs of the gorgeous, humpy footballers."
Like the Dieux du Stade calendar, Naked For a Cause is oversized at 18 inches by 14 inches, and the photography and production are of the highest quality, Bass said. Naked For a Cause comprises 30 full-color pages bearing 28 Australian football (rugby) players.
Bass said he is in negotiations to bring the Naked For a Cause "making-of" DVD to the U.S. in time for the holidays. He also said Prerogatives plans to produce and distribute other products based on Virgil's photographs of the players.
Australian Footballers Naked For a Cause is available at GLBT bookstores worldwide and online at ADLBooks, Amazon and NakedForACause.
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