We are pleased to announce that our dude Derek Lo
aka The Big Asian has been dubbed 2009’s Sexiest Man in Advertising. Should you wanna grab his chain, he spins them records round and round every Friday night at Happy Endings. And he might be wearing a crown.
i can’t tell you you’re oppressed
without asking your opinion on it.
-Fatemeh Fakhraie
I’ve written before on the subject of sex and authorship and believe in the virtues of Neo Burlesque and Suicide Girls as a potential source of empowerment. Yet what still struck me in this clip from Sundance’s Pleasure For Sale is the frank calm with which Kittie approaches prostitution as an independent contractor. Or at least, that which we see on screen? Dunno.
That said, we must keep questioning those things that make us nod or shake our heads, be it assent or dissent.
Editors Note: There are links herein NSFW
Learned from Gawker’s Fleshbot that 2.0 pornstar Raven Riley now has a website in which she is SFW and and talking about her favorite brands – like Lipton, SunChips and Tropicana. Obvs this is of her own doing, but it teases out two questions.
First, I’m wondering when ads and brands will start embedding themselves within the world of 2.0 content creators who have traffic and equity. Rather than attempting to make new content to go viral – why not foster narrative product placement in YouTube content like that of film or TV? Dr. Pepper did this with Tay Zonday for ‘Cherry Chocolate Rain’, but at the same time, that content was high (TV) budget. It could be done for less and notch a strong ROI. The UGC movement from brands and agencies taps this vein, but too many of those campaigns go unnoticed. There is still a wealth of blue ocean.
I’ve spoken with a lot of the top rated YouTubers, and while there is rev-share from YouTube – nary a brand or agency has approached them about narrative. The below vid by gamer Arsha Asteraki, is already an ad for Mountain Dew and Frito Chips – why not capitalize on this?
Second, while I do doubt that brands and porn are gonna get in bed together, might we soon enter a shift in the public relationship with the sex industry – or at least that which is projected via Madison Ave? Juno already got me wondering about this. Much in the same way that hip-hop and brands have a sometimes secret affair, I bet 30 years ago that idea got guffaws in the boardroom. But swagger sells. Sex too.
The film Pineapple Express brings forth the new genre of Bromantic Comedy. How new is this term? It ain’t yet on Wikipedia.
Over the last few years, Hollywood has taken male bonding to a new level of intimacy, far more sensitive than Lethal Weapon. Entourage, Superbad, 40 Year Old Virgin and the forthcoming Bromance.– all of these are about male friendship and openly speak to the fact that Guys Have Feelings. (‘feelings’ being historically ‘unmanly/queer’) While the scripts are rife with jokes about being gay, the stories are grounded in the pursuit of punani.
Not so in Pineapple, a film in which many of the male characters are painted with unasked/unanswered question marks about their sexuality. Women are used moreso for comic relief than to reaffirm the hetero status of the characters. So if this film makes a tidy profit, I do wonder what the next step in this narrative trend will be.
So the internets are abuzz with questions about the Saatchi/Epoch Bronze Lion winner “Speed Dressing” cause JC Penney is now denying ownership of the spot. For those not yet in the know, the :60 depicts two cute teens practicing speed dressing so that they can get away with some heavy petting (greatest sex-ed term evar, IMHO).
I was surprised when I saw it and didn’t think it was sanctioned; kinda like the below Levi’s :60. But I’m not wholly convinced that JC ‘knew nothing’ about it. Would Epoch and Saatchi really risk a F500 client relationship for Cannes? Dunno. Though I doubt JC will fire Saatchi. And Saatchi will work again with Epoch.
In the new media landscape, there are strategy briefs that make room to release and then deny content. And by denying it outright, JC can wash their hands in the public eye, yet get the benefit of viral buzz and grab that brass ring of cool amongst teen shoppers. Until this spot hit the web, the words ‘edgy’ and ‘JC Penney’ couldn’t be found in the same room. Now they’re necking in the basement.
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UPDATE
Of course Saatchi knew all about it. I mean, come on, awards shows are an incest fest, you think nobody told them that it was in the running?
…Well now Saatchi/Epoch is ‘returning’ the lion
Is Vice positioned in the hipster snarketplace as Playboy for Millennials? Starting in 06ish, Vice’s editorial content moved toward an even split of Issues That Matter (like women’s lib in India, Authors or Pollution) and heaps more T&A. (under the aegis of fashion)
Maybe 15 year old lads are telling mom that they read Vice…for the articles. Now is the mag sending a message to women that they can best be a part of the Vice world sans shirt? Does it castrate the value of writing about India’s Gulabi Gang?
(more…)
When accepting her Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, Juno scribe Diablo Cody proudly displayed her bicep tat of a bikini-clad + rope bound lass, a visual reminder to viewers at home that Cody was once a stripper. And the dark humor that actress Ellen Page spits in Juno is strongly rooted in the self-aware and acerbic style of writing oft found in sex worker literature.
Women in the sex industry have historically been labeled as Victim with A Heart of Gold, Radical Feminist or Dumb Slut. Rarely are they seen as having any agency or complexity. Spread Magazine launched in 2005 to flip the script:
We believe that all sex workers have a right to self-determination; to choose how we make a living and what we do with our bodies. We aim to build community and destigmatize sex work by providing a forum for the diverse voices of individuals working in the sex industry.
For those dear readers who may be clucking and saying Not My World, let’s look at the webstat counter Alexa.com to see the story of Our Nation’s online activity.
Megarotic has more visits than Amazon, AOL and Blogger
YouPorn beats Digg and The New York Times
Adult Friend Finder…gets more love than MapQuest?
With porn’s market position as an ‘outsider industry’, we may be inclined to think that some of these xxxsites are clickbotting. While we may question Ms. Alexa, her stats are bandied about like Mr. Nielson’s ratings. Fact is, porn is no longer just “finding Dad’s Playboys” (i looked, alas he had none) or a dusty VHS. It’s everywhere and we’re all, shall we say, touched, by it.
Now Sex & The City EP Darren Star has an upcoming HBO series based on Tracy Quan’s Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl. Also coming, Washingtonienne and Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
Given that Carrie Bradshaw spawned trends like drinking Cosmos, lusting after Manohlo Blahniks and hearting Marc Jacobs, I’m curious to see what details our pop culture might take from an expensive prostitute. Going beyond any new trends, maybe this show and Diablo Cody’s high profile will begin to remix the public discussion of American sex workers and this naughty little $12 billion industry.
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UPDATES
4/24/08
What does it mean when Nintendo’s Wii has a stripper video game?
5/16/08
Teens + Sex and the City
6/10/08
NYT and 365 days of sex