Celebenomics: Should Snooki Pose for Playboy?

By Jo Piazza Posted Feb 16th 2010 02:41PM

With all the fuss over possible nude photos of the 'The Jersey Shore's' Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi hitting the Web this week, an important question must be asked: Is now the right time for Snook to cash in on her flash-in-the-pan celebrity and pose for Playboy?

The men's magazine has a long and storied history of paying celebrities (and the people who fill their shoes for fifteen minutes) large sums of money to appear nude in their pages.

Kim Basinger, Drew Barrymore, Daryl Hannah, Cindy Crawford and Denise Richards have graced the mag's vaunted pages -- as have many faux celebrities at the peak of their temporary fame, each collecting a nice paycheck before the public forgotten all about them.

"The decision to pose for Playboy must be based on a serious assessment and analysis of Nicole's future as an actress or model. Considering the 'Jersey Shore' star has recently booked appearances at wing shacks and bars, a realistic approach to career extension would certainly include Playboy," says image consultant Farrah Parker of FD Parker & Associates. "I'd advise Nicole to maximize her earning potential before her reputation plummets further. Reality TV stars scramble to keep themselves in the limelight and fail to make strategic business moves, thus Nicole's acceptance of appearance gigs at random eateries. Nicole should cash in on Playboy and hope that her nude spread causes massive pandemonium driving other magazines to make similar offers."

The stars of 'Jersey Shore,' which is now gearing up for a second season, can command as much as $10,000 per appearance, but MTV is reportedly trying to curb their extracurricular activities to maintain the brand. Snooki often appears nearly nude on the hit MTV show, strutting around in a bikini and doing cartwheels in little more than a skirt and thong. Why shouldn't she try to get paid for removing what is left of her clothing?

Recently, former Danity Kane member Aubrey O'Day and over-augmented 'Hills' star Heidi Montag reportedly reached six-figure deals to pose for the men's mag.

Montag and O'Day both conducted their negotiations during their celebrity "sweet spots" -- the time before the public begins to lose interest in them and a magazine's willingness to pay is still at a peak.

For example: O'Day brokered her Playboy deal in November 2008, a month after P. Diddy kicked her out of Danity Kane. She appeared in the magazine in March 2009, right before the public lost interest in her. Aubrey who?

Heidi Montag is in the midst of negotiating a steamy shoot with Playboy. She is currently making waves with the coverage of her excessive plastic surgery, but obscurity is looming with the failure of her recently-released album and a lack of interest in her show (now that the 'Jersey Shore' has fist-pumped its way to the top). Now is the time for her to make her move.

Lisa Johnson Mandell, author of 'Career Comeback: Repackage Yourself to Get the Job You Want,' likens Snooki's current situation to that of Darva Conger, the former emergency room nurse who won the heart of "millionaire" Rick Rockwell on Fox's 'Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?' back in 2000. She posed nude for Playboy in the August 2000 issue.

"I spoke with Darva about it. She never did tell me how much she made for appearing on the cover and inside, but ten years ago, I guessed it was somewhere between $250,000 and $500,000, and she didn't tell me I was wrong," Mandell says. "Darva's attitude was this: She knew her 15 minutes of fame would be up soon, and she thought she might as well capitalize on it, especially since all the attention had cost her her job as a nurse. She said the photo shoot was a wonderful experience, and the photographers made her look more beautiful and glamorous than she ever imagined she could."

Lesson: Get naked right before you aren't relevant any more!

"Famous, or in this case 'famous,' people can almost always generate interest in naked pictures, whether or not their body alone would be capable of generating attention/interest without that fame," says Lux Alptraum, editor of Fleshbot.com, a popular adult entertainment blog. "So, yes, I think there's interest in seeing Snooki naked -- not a huge amount, necessarily, a lot of people have no idea who she is, but enough to make it worthwhile to someone -- Playboy more likely than Penthouse, as they're more given to celebrity driven stunts. Hell, they already put Heidi Montag on the cover, it's not like Snooki's that much of a leap."

As for any ex-boyfriends (or more likely one-night stands) looking to sell amateur nude shots or old sexts of Snook to the celebrity weekly magazines -- there is less of a market in the mainstream media for naked photos, in general.

"There's not a huge market for a nude picture of Snooki in the editorial world. Magazines that pay a lot of money for pictures don't really run naked photos, so the biggest market wouldn't be involved. Snooki making out with Brad Pitt would be a different story. I'd even take Snooki and Brody Jenner at this point," explains US Weekly Photo Editor Peter Grossman.

"As for Playboy or Penthouse, I suppose a leaked naked pic could serve as a kind of ad for her, if she wanted to go that route. As for her window of opportunity, I think it's so small I'm not sure her bumpit would fit through it. She and her cast mates need to cash in on every possible opportunity while it's in front of them and they certainly seem to be doing so, which means they've either got great instincts or are getting great advice."

Tags: celebenomics, nicole polizzi, playboy, snooki

Comments

(22)

Tuesday 16 February

By Bill

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She should pose for field and stream . Thats where she belongs.

By Pizzt

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I lol'd for truth!

Wednesday 17 February

By BTDT

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Maybe if she dumped thirty pounds .............naw. Never mind.

By big e

who cares about snooki ....period ...if she didn't have large ...you know whats ....no one would give her a second look!!!!

By katy

Generally when a girl is as young as Snookie, they still look decent. This girl looks like she got hit with a bag of hammers. Someone needs to tell Porky teh Pig that she is still fat and ugly and it will only get worse as time goes on.

By tammy

why would anyone want to pay money to look at someone naked who is that fat?

By ZarathustraMike

And her face would crack all the mirrors at the Mansion..... She should pose for "Heiffer Daily"!!!

By Jack

Last time I saw a mouth like that it had a hook in it!

By Spicy

That body is like a Lil' SMokie!

By please playboy NOOOOOO

Oh god no. She's got too many rolls. The Situation was right about her rolls.

By KC

Snookie-as she likes to be called- is a piece of trash looking for her 15 minutes. She's a foul-mouthed lush with no class-go back to the hole you crawled out of Snooks-you're a joke-a big fat one.

By Mark

she didn't just get hit with the ugly stick, the whole damn tree fell on her.

By Perseids811

Please, Snookie posing for Playboy, some of us just finished dinner and we hope to keep it down. The thought of seeing that could upset the strongest stomach.

By Oprah

She as ugly as Adam Dados...if she was black she wouldn't be in da news.....

By Reena

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I think she kinda resembles Christina Alguilera. A chubby, darker version. Maybe that crossed with Fred Flinstone...I don't know why, but when she walks, that's who I think of.

By Robert Green

Isn't the NY Kennel Club holding their Dog show right now???? She should enter in the "WORKING HOUND" part of the show..........

By nrwlbt

TRY HUSTLER INSTEAD.

By Matt

Is she still relevant?? The question should really be, "was she every relevent?"

Thursday 23 September

By tony

she looks like a tan beach ball.maybe she should go get a job at sea world with shamoo the whale.but is she was a whale i don t think they would be protecting the down in antarctica on whale wars.they would be giving her to the japanese.

Wednesday 03 November

By Beeeee

Why do ya'll gotta hate on Snooki? If she wants to pose for freakin' Playboy she can. It's America people, if you don't like it get the f-word over it. Honestly, Snooki is beautiful. Yeah, she's not a skinny skank but who cares? And if you don't want her to do it, just don't read that issue of Playboy. Alot of people may hate her and all the Jersey Shore cast members, but not everyone. Snooki is gorgeous big or little. Ya'll just wish ya'll had enough balls to be on reality tv without being shamed. Don't hate, appreciate.

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