Playboy Enterprises is mulling whether to sue a Web site owner whose site for dog lovers, Playdog, uses a logo modeled after Playboy magazine's 46-year-old masthead logotype.
The site owner, Steve Sackman, a bartender here, says he's only having some fun, but Playboy Enterprises isn't biting. Sackman uses the Playdog logotype on bowls, leashes, and other products he sells onsite. But Playboy Enterprises is also barking over a Playdog of the Month - a mimicry of Playboy's famed Playmate of the Month.
Playboy Enterprises tells Reuters it fears that Playdog viewers will mistake it for an official or commercial offshoot of the Playboy operation, since it received, it says, an e-mail from a fan who thought precisely that. The company is asking Sackman to change the typeface and lose the Playdog of the Month.
``We do see the humor here, but if there's one site that does this, others could follow. We risk people being confused as to what is Playboy, and what is not,'' says Playboy Enterprises spokeswoman Angela DePaul.
Sackman says he's surprised by Playboy's alarm. "I'm a speck of dust," he tells Reuters. "That they consider me a threat is ludicrous. I don't mean to hurt anybody. I just want to play with dogs."
