By: Humphrey Pennyworth


LAS VEGAS - Turns out there was a reason why executives from the famous “12 for a penny” Columbia House record and movie club were prowling the Adult Entertainment Expo last week: They’re preparing to launch their own Adult video club with Playboy Entertainment by January’s end.

The New York Post reported January 9 that the new club, to be called Hush, will sell Adult videos through a Website and through direct mail, while Columbia House senior marketing vice president Jim Litwak insisted that Hush would be a separate subsidiary – and won’t even be marketed to current Columbia House members, even though Columbia House and Playboy struck “a quiet deal” for Columbia House’s DVD club to add a reported 150 “tasteful” Playboy titles to the club offerings.

“We are not using Columbia House at all, and are not talking to existing members,” Litwak told the Post. “[Hush] is a separate business and deal."

The Columbia House executives were said to be talking with various Adult producers other than Playboy Entertainment, an indication Hush doesn’t plan to keep a strictly Playboy-oriented profile when it launches the new club. Because Hush doesn’t plan to market to current Columbia House members, the Post said, one company executive described Hush as “a slow build.”

The Post also suggested traditional book and record discount clubs like Columbia House and the Book of the Month Club have been hit hard enough by the rise of discount online distribution that avoiding Adult entertainment might be as risky as some think getting involved with it might be.

Litwak told the paper Hush would be promoted by way of sponsored contests on Howard Stern’s radio show, direct mail promotions, and Adult magazine advertising.