Will Hefner Engagement Disaster Draw Press? Hef Hopes So

In a heartbreaking ploy for publicity turn of events, Hugh Hefner had to announced his upcoming nuptials this weekend had been canceled due to bursitis bad back hemorrhoids cold feet.

No, not Hef's cold feet—which given his advanced age do chill easily—but his fiancee's.

The 25-year-old Playmate told Ryan Seacrest she'd been having second thoughts, and finally plucked up the courage to call off her wedding to the 85-year-old Playboy founder.

Whatever her real reasons, the more important question is how this publicity will impact the Playboy brand.

On one hand, Playboy has recently taken the PR strategy of "all publicity is good publicity." This announcement being publicity, it would seem to fit into the brand's overall strategy.

Then again, will consumers continue to see Playboy founder Hugh Hefner as a virile representation of male sexuality after he was dumped? 

Of course, anything that makes consumers forget that the Playboy Mansion was the source of a recent outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease is good PR.

Playboy (and Hefner) will also probably be happy if it distracts from the lawsuit one Playboy model has levveled against the magazine.

Or the new cover featuring "Mrs. Crystal Hefner."

Or the claims that she cheated on him with, of all people, Dr.Phil's son.

Or the scandal of a businessman who stole hundreds of thousands of dolars from a Pennsylvania county and used it to party at the Playboy Mansion.

Or the protests in London over the re-opening of the old Playboy Club.

Since the break up, Hefner has been making the most of it by tweeting away, denying the TMZ report that he and his fiance had a nasty argument.

All in all, Hefner's been having a rough run of late. Maybe if he gets stabbed protecting her honor, as actor Sean Bean recently did with his Playboy model date, he could win her back.

(Below: Hefner and Harris interviewed by Robin Leach in April about their engagement)