Mac and Bumble sounds like a charming English boutique that might sell fragrant soaps, bath products, candles, and greeting cards. Perhaps, for its more daring clientele, it would carry a few pieces of tastefully romantic lingerie and a small selection of subtle cosmetics. It would be light, airy, feminine, delicately scented, and staffed by gracious and sweetly glamorous women.Close, but no cigar, Freud. Mac and Bumble is, in fact, a charming American website that features some of the world’s most beautiful models photographed in exotic locations under natural lighting. Visitors won’t find a hint of 2257 information because the site doesn’t need to provide any, since its consistently stylish soft core content doesn’t fall under the bean counter’s jurisdiction. What visitors will find, however, are glamour girls including Alley Baggett, Francine Dee, Kira Kenner, Sung Hi Lee, Ashley Renee, Veronika Zemanova, Jana Cova, Aria Giovanni, and recently deceased Chloe Jones, among hundreds of others.
According to company spokesman, Kenneth Brooks, Mac and Bumble has been capturing the images of what the site bills as “The world’s most beautiful women” since 2001, when the company first hired photographer Harvey Butts to work with Alley Baggett. The lovely brunette, whom Brooks proclaims to be a “hard worker” who already had her own successful website and “really ‘gets’ the glamour model industry,” lent more than her slender body to the company. She also lent her insights professional about the inner workings of an industry brand new to the Mac and Bumble team. Baggett was so impressed by the professionalism and quality of their work that she introduced them to her contacts… and the rest is rapidly becoming part of online soft core erotic glamour history.
Now full-time, in-house photographer Butts and a very few other lucky photographers work with models not only in American cities such as Los Angeles, Tampa, and Miami, but also in exotic locations to be found in Acapulco, Sao Paolo, London, Prague, and – most recently, Ibiza Spain. Each location shoot is a “big, long production,” that can take weeks of intensive work with video and still cameras to capture properly. But once everything is in the can, Brooks reports that there is a “tremendous amount of content” to show for it, as well as the opportunity to work with some of the world’s most beautiful women, of course. Plans are afoot for trips to Scandinavia, Italy, and Australia. But right now, the company’s fondest memories are of Ibiza, Spain, where Brooks claims the company “produced some of the best content” in locations that were “just unbelievable, phenomenal” – but not as good as that which is yet to come.
Although shooting abroad comes with its share of traveling-related inconveniences, Brook reports that the company loves the opportunity to network with models and referring photographers while seeing the world.
Exotic locations and glamorous models aside, in an industry rife with concerns about violating vague obscenity codes, is there really a market for content showing nothing more than bare flesh? The success of Mac and Bumble strongly suggests that, when done right, such a niche absolutely does exist. “There are a lot of people out there who don’t really need to see anything explicit,” Brooks points out. Although not inexpensive, the site’s content is so popular with both men and women that he believes within the next two years it could become a 30- to 40-million-dollar a year enterprise, in part because of positive response from the mainstream press and the fact that, political extremists aside, America has become comfortable with softer erotic content. Brooks hopes that the classy, respectful attitude of the site and its contents will help “nudge” things even further toward acceptance.
In fact, although he acknowledges that a greater appreciation for the power of soft core might produce more competition for the company, Brooks is confident that Mac and Bumble can hold its ground. “We are very widely respected for the type of photography that we do,” explains the man who sees Playboy as his company’s most serious competitor. “But Playboy shoots all studio stuff and we shoot all location stuff. Much more difficult to produce but, I think, results in much better quality photographs.”
As comfortable as Brooks is concerning his site’s 2257 compliance, he is acutely uncomfortable with the notion of any site dragging an .xxx domain designation along a part of its URL. He speaks for many when he suggests that it is a form of segregation that has nothing to do with protecting children and everything to do with damaging the adult online industry. “If they really want to protect the kids,” he suggestions, “why don’t they set up .kids and put all the kids’ stuff there and then severely punish somebody who puts adult stuff there?”
Whether Mac and Bumble content would qualify for an .xxx domain is, of course, debatable – although some within the Bush administration have insisted that even Playboy’s content could be deemed obscene. In the meantime, the company has been fiercely protective of its brand, refusing to attach hardcore exit consoles or banners to its site. Having worked hard to produce content featuring at least 300 models, the company is now poised to emerge from its low profile and begin promoting its Ibiza DVD and BumbleCash affiliate program. “I think we’re really poised to break through,” Brooks effuses.
In the meantime, Brooks encourages interested webmasters to check out what his site has to offer because, in addition to some of the world’s most beautiful women, “There’s a lot of money to be made for soft core webmasters.”
