CHICAGO- For decades, Playboy fans and employees alike have been branding themselves with the image of the Playboy bunny whether it's in a tattoo, shaved into pubic hair, or placed within tan lines.
New Partner Manager for Playboy.com Derek Meklir, who also is the former vice president of business development at MrSkin.com, has discovered a new way in which to display proudly his new company's logo. On Aug. 5, two days before the Internext Summer show, Meklir waxed the Playboy bunny emblem into the vast forest of hair on his chest.
"It hurt a lot," Meklir admitted to AVN Online. "The whole thing took over two hours and I felt every minute of it. Every 10 minutes or so, the chick waxing me would rip hair right out of my chest."
Possibly more painful than the waxing itself was the "clean-up" afterward in which stray hairs are unceremoniously plucked and existing patches re-waxed.
"It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it," Meklir added.
Meklir, known for his presence at adult Internet shows and his famed baseball jersey, wanted to make an impression at this year's Internext Summer show.
"I wanted to make a statement and impress upon everyone at Internext that I had made the move from MrSkin.com over to Playboy," Meklir proclaimed. "Everyone is so used to seeing me at Internext with my Mr. Skin jersey that I figured it was a good way to make my new role known."
Sarah Preston, staff writer for Playboy.com, expressed her appreciation for Meklir's actions on her blog within the website.
"Derek has demonstrated what it means to really embrace the bunny," she wrote.
Meklir spent almost six years at Mr. Skin before taking on his new role at Playboy.com where he will manage Playboy's relationships with key content, e-commerce and distribution partners.
"Starting a new job is never easy," Meklir confessed. "Working for a company and brand like Playboy makes you do extraordinary things."
During the Playboy Golf Scramble last week, a lot of the models were asking Meklir to take pictures with them, instead of the other way around. "Sadly, most of the pictures didn't include my head," he added.
