Legal troubles aside, I am dubious about the GGW franchise stuff. Hooters is a cute restaurant concept. Playboy was founded (and still successfully hold to) the fine living concept with the women as a centerpiece.

As accepted (and for people like Francis profitable) as porn is now, I just don't see GGW crossing over to mainstream in the Playboy sense. GGW is missing the "lifestyle" component needed to make mass branding work.

Also, Francis just isn't a celeb in the sense needed to make the brand turn the corner. He's not Hef. If he's going to take GGW to the next level, he really needs to start listening to his PR people and his legal counsel and keep his nose clean (no pun intended).

Of course, if he was already doing that, he wouldn't be a frequent visitor to the local jail.

He needs to pull a very public apology to the people of Bay County (a full page ad in the News Herald should certainly be within his financial reach), do a couple of humble TV interviews with local TV, etc. Get the (in my opinion) trumped bribary and drug charges dropped in exchage for being nice. Make some kind of sizeable donation to a couple of beloved local charities, and be a model citizen when he comes to do his community service.

If he can't do the above, he doesn't begin to have what it takes to brand himself as the center of a legit Playboy style franchise. He's in his mid-30's and needs to start thinking about his legacy.