Playboy undresses Wal-Mart women

Playboy launches the 'The Women of Wal-Mart' pictorial featuring 6 employees minus uniforms.

Playboy's controversial "Women of Wal-Mart" feature went live Wednesday, showcasing six of Wal-Mart's "sexiest" female employees who dared to shed their uniforms for the online pictorial.

"This was a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Tesha Mullen, one of the feature's models. "When I heard about the pictorial, I knew right away that I wanted to send in photos. Some of the most beautiful women in the world have posed for Playboy and it is an honor to have been selected for this feature."

Playboy launches the "Women of Wal-Mart" pictorial.

In September Playboy had announced it was searching for the sexiest women at Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer. Playboy (PLA: up $0.37 to $16.88, Research, Estimates) ran a similar-themed 'Women of Enron' last year and 'Women of Starbucks' photospreads in the magazine earlier this year.

"We received over 400 responses from Wal-Mart employees. That's more than the responses we got from both Enron and Starbucks (SBUX: Research, Estimates) employees," said Jay Nesheim, spokeswoman for Playboy.

Nesheim said the six models, including a photo lab technician, assistant manager and a department manager, were paid for their feature but would not disclose the amount.

"We knew that this would be a very provocative thing for us to do," said John Thomas, editor of Playboy. "Wal-Mart has a conservative corporate image and we knew they wouldn't be thrilled. But we're hoping that the company will be pleased once they see how fun the pictures are and how empowered the women at Wal-Mart feel."