Did happy bunny originate from the playboy magazine?

Happy Bunny products are sold in many forms such as key chains, computer mouse pads, energy drinks, school supplies, clothing lines and many more. "Mr. Benton's intellectual properties ... have made him stand out in an industry dominated by big entertainment companies."[3] "Last year, the It's Happy Bunny brand nabbed the International Licensing Excellence Award for Best Art Brand Licensing of the Year, from the Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association (LIMA)."[4] "An anti-drug campaign featuring It's Happy Bunny was honored at the 2007 Austin ADDY Awards for advertising excellence in the category of public service."[5]

The appeal of the merchandise lies in the fact that most, if not all, of the slogans are apathetic and sometimes offensive and derogatory, and one commentator noted that "'It's Happy Bunny' has joined the "tasteless" category of merchandise ..." [6]. Examples of slogans are "You suck and that's sad", "Cute but evil: things even out", "Hi, Loser", "It worries me how dumb you are" and many others. It's Happy Bunny also has a line of "medicine" to cure quite awkward (fictional) diseases such as the "I'm delusional" pills; they are actually mints or small candies, the word poison badly blocked out with crayon (with happy bunny holding a crayon) and written in crayon there is, "mints for frend"