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For the first time in the history of the magazine, Playboy will have an animated woman as its covergirl. And the lucky lady is none other than Marge Simpson.

Playboy magazine’s circulation is down roughly 20% and like many other companies they are using this cover as a play towards a younger demographic. But what the 20-somethings buying the issue probably aren’t aware of: Marge’s cover pose is actually an homage to another cover first for Playboy.

In 1971, Playboy had its first African American cover model with Darine Stern. Marge’s pose on the stark white Playboy chair is a great play on firsts for the magazine. And while the first cartoon character on the cover isn’t exactly in the same league, milestone wise, as the first black woman on the cover, you have to admire Playboy’s wink-wink-nudge-nudge attitude.

Playboy executives aren’t spilling the beans on whether Marge goes full frontal, but let’s hope not. It may be taking it a bit too far to see if Marge’s, um, carpet matches the drapes. Along with the centerfold, they do share that there will be the standard interview, which makes one wonder if it’s Simpson’s creator Matt Groening actually answering these questions or the voice of Marge herself, Julie Kavner. Either way, it should be interesting to hear what questions Marge is asked and how they are answered.

The Simpsons is now in its 21st season (!) and sits in 30th for total viewers with around 9.3 million watching the latest installment. It’s a far cry from where this classic used to sit but still a respectable showing for such an old show. We will have to see if the cover hype lends itself to higher ratings. Also, knowing the writers over at The Simpsons, there will be inside jokes aplenty regarding Marge’s cover. Rumor has it she will also be baring it all on a future episode.

All in all, a very interesting and semi-controversial decision on Playboy’s part. Hopefully it turns out for the best for both the magazine and the show. But let’s just hope this doesn’t lead into Homer doing Playgirl. Doh!