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Stimulus checks are working...in the porn industry
July 16, 2008

Nation buys porn with stimulus package is the headline on Huffingtonpost.com, based on information from a press release from AIMRCo, the adult market research company, that discovered a 20-30% growth in membership rates since mid-May when the checks were mailed.  Could this be similar to the growth in the movie industry during the Depression, whereby people find escapism in porn and its accoutrements?

I read further down the page and discovered a comment from a porn industry insider who wrote, "I work in the business side of the adult industry and, as funny as this article is, you should take it with a large dose of salt. It isn't uncommon for AIMRCo to provide shady, unsubstantiated stats to garner free pub (note that this was a "press release"). In fact, the adult industry is reeling from this economic downturn as much as almost every other business sector. Porn used to be considered "recession-proof" but this summer is proving to be quite different."

So I called two local adult proprietors to see if they've noticed an uptick in sales and both commented with an enthusiastic "definitely".  I guess it depends which side of the adult business you're currently in. We're noticing a trend of people buying less expensive items (tennis rackets, golf clubs, bicycles) as opposed to cars, furniture and mega TVs.  If recreation equipment is maintaining their incremental growth, I guess this would therefore apply to humans' first sport (and oldest profession), right?

Another interesting tidbit:  Sony Pictures' movie Hancock pulled in an estimated $66 million over the July 4th weekend, yet 40% of homes available for sale in California's Orange County are either in foreclosure or priced below the value of the current owner's mortgage.  When the economy gets tough, people seek out entertainment, regardless of their expenses (we all know going to the movies isn't cheap anymore).  Why wouldn't they indulge their need for, ummm, sex?

In summary, what's the lesson in all of this? 
1.  Sex sells.  We already knew that.
2.  Sell something recreational that people can use to escape their daily lives or provides inexpensive transportation.
3.  Sell something that has an adult connotation, even if its benign.
4.  If nothing else, copy techniques some mattress manufacturers employ at Las Vegas Furniture Market to get traffic: hire scantily clad beauties to lay on their beds in their showrooms.
5.  And yes, it's true, no matter how much people fight this fact:  sexuality sells. Was there ever any doubt?  To prove this even further, here are 15 ads that should have nothing to do with sex at all (minus Victoria's Secret, but vacuum cleaners, toilet paper, scooters, and milk?)

Posted by Suze Bragg on July 16, 2008 | Comments (0)