THE PORNO-IZATION OF AMERICAN MEDIA AND MARKETING

Advertising Age ^ | 1.26.04 | T.L. Stanley

[mhking]

THE PORNO-IZATION OF AMERICAN MEDIA AND MARKETING

How Hard-Core Sex Stars are Penetrating Mainstream Culture

January 26, 2004

QwikFIND ID: AAP30D

By T.L. Stanley

LOS ANGELES (Adage.com) -- Ron Jeremy, the legendary star of some 1,700 hard-core porn films over the last two decades, steeps in the hot tub of a sweeping hilltop Los Angeles mansion, glass of merlot in hand, flanked

	Declaring the ascendence of porn is a 48-foot-high billboard of porn queen Jenna Jameson in Time Square, the symbolic heart of the U.S. advertising industry. She is now courted by TV producers, book publishers and marketers as a cultural star. Click to see larger image.

by a dozen gorgeous babes in tiny bikinis. It's a full-on party atmosphere where giggles fill the air and eyes constantly roam. It's ripe with possibility.

Prime-time porn
It might sound like the setup for Mr. Jeremy's latest adult entertainment vehicle, available on pay-per-view or a video store near you, but it isn't. It's The Surreal Life, an unscripted show airing on The WB, one of the first network broadcasters to hire a porn star as a major player in a prime-time show.

Also starring in the series, a fly-on-the-wall look at six has-been celebs and pop cult figures bunking in a house together, are televangelist Tammy Faye Messner, former Baywatch babe Traci Bingham, Latin hunk Erik Estrada, Rob Van Winkle (a k a Vanilla Ice, the former white rapper), and Real World alum Trishelle Canatella.

For Jeremy, his inclusion in the series is a stroke of casting brilliance and a chance for him to be seen by the broadest possible audience outside his adult entertainment roots and beyond the relative success he's had in mainstream movies and music videos. "No doubt there's a shock value to it," he said. "What's the biggest contrast you can get to a Bible-carrying evangelist? A porn star."

The Jan. 11 premier featuring Jeremy drew 5.3 million viewers, making it the highest-rated show ever in that time period in The WB's 10-year history.

'Porno-ized' America
He's the latest, but by no means only porn star to grab attention in the mainstream media. He is part of what some trend mavens say is the new "porno-ized" America, which seems to be enthralled with people who were once marginalized in a business that has always been the black sheep of entertainment.

"It's a way to prove your liberalness to not be freaked out by porn," said Marian Salzman, chief strategy officer at Euro RSCG Worldwide. "People are decidedly more open now."

Signs to that effect are everywhere. Jenna Jameson, a Vivid Video veteran and budding franchise, looms large over Times Square in a 48-foot-high billboard. She has an autobiography, How to Make Love Like a Porn Star, set for a spring release. She's hosted television shows on E!, where she's been the subject of a highly rated E! True Hollywood Story, been featured on Entertainment Tonight and in magazine stories too numerous to count. Her fellow Vivid cohorts also have book deals and an unscripted TV show from Emmy-winning production company World of Wonder hitting the air in Britain soon. The U.S. will follow.

A documentary on Deep Throat, the groundbreaking Linda Lovelace movie of the '70s, is in the works, with Hollywood heavyweight Brian Grazer producing. Mary Carey, a Vivid star, ran for governor of California during the recall election of fall 2003 that put action movie maven Arnold Schwarzenegger in office. Though it didn't succeed, a prime-time drama called Skin hit Fox's schedule this season with a porn king as one of the main characters.

HBO's 'Pornucopia'
HBO is planning a six-part documentary on the adult entertainment industry called Pornucopia: Going Down in the Valley, and rival pay network Showtime starts the second season of its porn-centric series, Family Business with star character

Photo: AP

Porn star Mary Carey became a media star with her run for governor in last year's California recall race. Here, she presents the issues in front of the Sacramento State House.

---

Seymore Butts. There's a nod to porn chic in the makeup, styling and fashion of such pop stars as Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, not to mention Paris Hilton's X-rated videotaped romp.

Marketers are beginning to take notice, though even porn pioneer and Hustler publisher Larry Flynt says there are barriers for brand endorsements. "I'm sure General Motors wouldn't have a porn star trying to sell their cars like Dinah Shore did years ago," Mr. Flynt said. "The culture has changed, but the product has to be right."

Though the figures are difficult to verify, adult entertainment could be pulling in anywhere from $8 billion to $11 billion a year, which, at the high end, would make it bigger than Hollywood's feature film business. Trade magazine Adult Video News reported that sales and rentals of adult videos alone racked up $4 billion last year.

'Elevated status'?
"There's a kinky allure, a strange glamorous association with that world," said Judith Regan, whose Harper Collins Regan Books division is publishing Ms. Jameson's book and other Vivid tomes. "It's considered tawdry, but it's still titillating. It's been elevated in terms of its status."

There are a number of reasons for the proliferation of porn and its practitioners in mainstream media, with technology and competition perhaps leading the pack. When porn went from a sex-shop-only phenomenon to being available at the corner video store, on pay-per-view and on the Internet, it became accessible,

Photo: AP

Hard-core sex performer Ron Jeremy is now prime-time fare on the WB and has a book in the works for HarperCollins.

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anonymous and, perhaps, palatable to more consumers than ever. Even mid-range hotels in Middle America have porn piped in on pay-per-view, with huge revenues coming from it.

"The face of the consumer has changed," said Rhett Speros, a trend analyst at brand consulting firm Buzztone, New York. "It's no longer that old guy in the trench coat in the '60s that your parents told you to run from."

TV and movie marketers
The competitive edge could be pushing TV, movies and marketers to entrench themselves more deeply in the still-often seedy world. TV networks must try much harder to lure audiences in the 500-plus channel universe, where other entertainment options such as DVDs, the Internet, video games and feature films abound.

"There's still enough of a taboo left that it's rascally and funny," said Bob Thompson, founding director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. "TV is dropping its pants and saying a naughty word to get attention."

Despite their propensity to include porn stars on casts or in featured segments, TV executives were surprisingly mum on those decisions. Requests for comments from a range of network and cable channels were turned down, across the board.

The marketing community, to a lesser degree than mainstream media, has started inching toward a pornographic embrace. Trend guru Faith Popcorn, who founded Brain Reserve marketing consulting firm, recently said porn is the norm, consumers are desensitized and advertisers will have to continue to push the envelope to get their messages through.

Music and porn
Old-school sneaker brand Pony used Ms. Jameson prominently, along with other Vivid Girls, in its ad campaign last year. The brand, at the time, was owned by Hollywood talent management company The Firm, whose vice president of global marketing, Come Chantrel, shepherded the campaign. Among its roster are a number of popular rock bands such as Korn and Limp Bizkit, whose members are linked romantically with porn stars.

"Porn is where hip-hop was 10-15 years ago," Mr. Chantrel said. "It's very rock and roll. There's a rebellious, edgy attitude to it."

Howard Stern and a now-50-year-old Playboy used to have that attitude, but are now considered tame and domesticated. Porn may be the final Wild West frontier, Mr. Chantrel said, which can be harnessed by some brands but not others. For Pony, which counts men 18 to 25 among its best customers, it was organic.

"The most important thing is credibility," Mr. Chantrel said. "If you understand what's appealing about that world, the subtleties of that culture, then you can use it. If you don't, you'll look ridiculous."

Pushing the limits
Hip-hop's ability to sell is well-documented, with stars such as 50 Cent hawking customized Reeboks, Missy Elliott doing Gap commercials and Snoop Dogg rapping for Nokia. Richards Group's creative director, Chuck Schiller, was instrumental in hooking up Snoop and his wireless client. He says marketers' penchant for testing their ads and gathering information from their consumers dictates how far they will go in pushing limits.

"There will always be brands that tie themselves to unassailable highest-good values, and they'll never do anything outside that no matter how hip it is," Mr. Schiller said. "Others will take calculated risks. And when they step over the line, they'll get slapped down."

Fashion and alcohol marketers
Fashion, alcohol and cosmetics can trade on an edgy tone, and those industries are the most likely to be first in incorporating porn stars and sensibilities into their marketing. For other brands, it's a matter of who wants to jump off the diving board first.

"Most clients say, 'This is not the time to be an innovator,' " Buzztone's Mr. Speros said. "They would rather intrigue than shock."

Ms. Salzman said that for all their acceptance, porn stars still have baggage that makes them less attractive to recommend as brand ambassadors.

"I'm looking for a clean slate because I want the brand personality to shine through," Ms. Salzman said. "But if you really want to break the rules and push a brand, a porn star might not be the worst way to go."

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Redcloak]

Care to comment?

[cyborg]

LOL

[george wythe]

Most of the Internet traffic is porn-related.

The silver lining is that these porn sites pay for the servers that often carry free-hosting and other services for the rest of us.

[Redcloak]

Certain FReepers just need to be pinged on some threads. For example, who doesn't ping Focault's Pendulum on threads about logging in?

[2banana]

Well, we just did have Clinton in the White House for 8 years...

[George W. Bush]

Ugh.

[John Beresford Tipton]

If you do reply, please remember the screen
is aligned in portrait, NOT LANDSCAPE format!

[Modernman]

Ron Jeremy, the legendary star of some 1,700 hard-core porn films over the last two decades

Met him once at a diner in Beverly Hills. He was there with two over-the-top sexy porno babes. He's a really nice, normal guy in person.

[Callahan]

Clinton always wanted a legacy.

[StoneColdGOP]

Yeah, he seems to be a real normal, nice guy with one hell of a job.

[anniegetyourgun]

No surprises here. After all, the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

[Callahan]

Please confine all Ron Jeremy fantasies to threads marked "barf alert."

[small_l_libertarian]

No fantasies here. (I mean, I just saw him waxing and dying his chest hairs - yuck!) I just think he's a cool person, is all.

:-)

[Modernman]

(Goodness, what am I doing on this thread???? I should just shut up.)

No, no. Keep going...... :-)

[Modernman]

Yeah, he seems to be a real normal, nice guy with one hell of a job.

I thought he was the pizza guy....

[spodefly]

History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster." -- General Douglas MacArthur

Men are qualified for freedom in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there is without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of intemperate minds cannot be free." -- Edmund Burke

[JustPlainJoe]

Clinton ought to co-host!

[antiRepublicrat]

I'm sure that if someone (say, Tammy Faye, for example) said something about what he does for a living, he'd come right back and say, "Oh, yeah? Well, what does God have to say about stealing from the faithful? Bet He's not crazy about that, either, huh?"

I saw a bit of this, and it's amazing how well they get along. The little jibes and comments each way are always friendly and taken with good humor by the other.

After him making the joke about playing the piano then the "organ" I did a little research. Turns out Jeremy is a classically trained pianist with a master's degree in teaching special education, and also a former teacher. He's probably the smartest person there.

[Redcloak]

Yeah, he seems to be a real normal, nice guy with one hell of a job.

I thought he was the pizza guy....

That sounds like the set-up for one of his movies.

[retrokitten]

(Goodness, what am I doing on this thread???? I should just shut up.)

LOL!! Don't worry, I think we all have given out waaaay too much odd information about ourselves on FR at one point or another. One time I told a story about how I was a Wonder Woman fanatic when I was around 7 years old and how I used to cut the bottoms off of dixie cups and wear them as Wonder Woman bracelets. LOL! Something about FR makes us very honest.

[Modernman]

That sounds like the set-up for one of his movies.

Yup. Or maybe the plumber: "Ladies, I'm here to fix your pipes" (cue porn music)

[spodefly]

Put down the Nietzsche and take a walk out in the sunshine.

[small_l_libertarian]

...cut the bottoms off of dixie cups and wear them as Wonder Woman bracelets...

Okaaaaaaay....

Just kidding! :-)

[cyborg]

feeling a little depressed lately? :/

[judgeandjury]

There's a nod to porn chic in the makeup, styling and fashion of such pop stars as Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears,

Yep, I've got to admit that Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears sure have the skank look down pat.

[mhking]

I watched one episode of "The Surreal Life," and from that little bit, figured that ol' Ron would be a hell of a guy to have as a drinkin' buddy. He's the guy that would hit the door at the Super Bowl party with a case of brew (the good stuff, not that rot-gut!) under each arm...

[TheBigB]

This thread is crying for Jenna Jameson pics. :)

[Modernman]

He's the guy that would hit the door at the Super Bowl party with a case of brew (the good stuff, not that rot-gut!) under each arm...

Or a case of brew under one arm and Jenna Jameson under the other.

[VxH]

Be sure to check out "The Whore of Babylon" Coming Soon to the SBO Network - In HDTV format with 5.1 Surround!

[HolgerDansk]

"And I juxtapose it with Clinton and the wocka-wocka porno guitar of the Clinton administration." -- Dennis Miller

[small_l_libertarian]

My sweetie is hooked on "Surreal Life." He watched last season and was totally transfixed by the walking disaster that is Corey Feldman. I gotta admit, that boy was damn funny.

Normally, we don't watch too much TV, but we each have one "must see" show (mine is "24").

[mhking]

Or a case of brew under one arm and Jenna Jameson under the other.

Well, yeah. Prolly...

[N. Theknow]

Hooter you think we are that we would want to be kept abreast of what these boobs are doing?

[little jeremiah]

It is saddening reading your post. Your viewpoint, if shared by many others, proves that the moral foundation of civilizations is destroyed, and that pedophilia and cannibalism are on the horizon.

A civilization with no objective reality which the majority of people admit to is a society of wild animals. Even animals only act within the confines of their instincts. Humans have been given greater intelligence and free will, and misusing them has caused all the ills in the world, save for natural disasters.

A porn star is an individual who should be scorned, shunned, and ignored. He is not a normal nice person.

[NonValueAdded]

They had fun with the picture captions too: "Here, she presents the issues in front of the Sacramento State House." Yeah, issues.

[Modernman]

It is saddening reading your post. Your viewpoint, if shared by many others, proves that the moral foundation of civilizations is destroyed, and that pedophilia and cannibalism are on the horizon.

LOL. Bet you didn't know you were a pedophile and cannibal.

[Modernman]

A civilization with no objective reality which the majority of people admit to is a society of wild animals.

M'okay. How is this statement in any way relevant to Ron Jeremy being on a reality TV show or Jenna Jameson being on a billboard in Times Square? Time to switch to decaf....

[goldstategop]

He has a definite talent for comedy... if you look past his being a porn star, he could pull it off as a mainstream actor. Ron Jeremy's talents were never done justice by the ah, blue screen.

[little jeremiah]

Here's another good one: (I know it's kind of long for those with short attention spans, but they probably wouldn't get it anyway).

BTW, you should add the rest of the Burke statement:
"Their passions forge their fetters."


"True freedom, the freedom that liberates, is grounded in truth
and ordered to truth and, therefore, to virtue. A free person
is enslaved neither to the sheer will of another nor to his own
appetites and passions. A free person lives uprightly, fulfilling
his obligations to family, community, nation and God. By contrast,
a person given over to his appetites and passions, a person who
scoffs at truth and chooses to live, whether openly or secretly,
in defiance of the moral law is not free. He is simply a different
kind of slave. The counterfeit of freedom consists in the idea of
personal and communal liberation from morality, responsibility and
truth. It is what our nation's founders expressly distinguished
from liberty and condemned as 'license.' The so-called freedom
celebrated today by so many of our opinion-shaping elites in
education, entertainment and the media is simply the license
to do whatever one pleases. This false conception of freedom --
false because disordered, disordered because detached from moral
truth and civic responsibility -- shackles those in its grip no
less powerfully than did the chattel slavery of old. Enslavement
to one's own appetites and passions is no less brutal a form of
bondage for being a slavery of the soul. It is no less tragic,
indeed, it is in certain respects immeasurably more tragic,
for being self-imposed. It is ironic, is it not, that people
who celebrate slavery to appetite and passion call this bondage
'freedom'?" --Imprimis

[small_l_libertarian]

Oh, give me a break. What on earth does Ron Jeremy banging porno starlets have to do with pedophilia and cannibalism? Cannibalism??? Are you kidding me?

He's just a guy having sex on film. Totally harmless, so long as everyone involved is an adult. Which IS the law, you know.

You're overreacting. A lot.

[NonValueAdded]

"I can't help it ... I think Ron Jeremy is adorable. (No, not in a physical kind of way.) He's just so honest, and I find that positively refreshing. He makes no excuses, and doesn't seem to be ashamed of what he does for a living, although he definitely appreciates the fact that others look down on him."

Oh, I see your screen name is small_l_liberTARian ... for a moment I thought it was small_l_liBRARian spending too much time in the romance novel section. I'll bet those book covers would make Ron Jeremy blush.

[TheBigB]

(Just ignore lj...he's a bit of a nutbar)

There was an interview with Ron in PLAYBOY a coupld of months ago. Did you know he has a Master's Degree and a Teaching License?

[Polycarp IV]

Would never have sex with him, though, just because I think he'd be impossible to impress.

I'd worry less about impressing him and more about multiple drug resistent Sexually Transmitted Diseases and mortal sin.

This is one sick thread.

[Helms]

"Put down the Nietzsche and take a walk out in the sunshine."

Can't a guy get an even break, I died insane and folks are still blaming me for what Hegel, Heidegger,Derrida, Marcuse, Focault and a whole host of passive nihilists have wrought.

Sure they are tearing down old values and institutions but have nothing to replace them. Not quite what I had in mind. I said reevaluation.

[little jeremiah]

If you think that glorifying people who screw each other for money so that others can watch it for sexual stimulation and/or amusement is either morally beneficial or harmless, there's no point of connection between your mind and mine.

Your comment about "me" being a pedophile and cannibal was incoherent. Professionals of various stripes are already advocating pedophilia, and cannibalism is being defended in Germany as fine as long as it's consensual. People who reject moral absolutes admit (it's in the above article as well) that they always want to push the edge of what is acceptable further and further into the realm of extreme. So when will they (you?) say "enough is enough". Never, since that's one of the symptoms of the disease.