Good grief. I didn’t believe the first reports I saw of this, but this one came from Fox Business, so there’s at least a 50% chance it’s a real story.
Apparently the adult entertainment industry will be seeking $5 billion in a bailout rescue package similar to the other government bailouts rescues from recent times.
Joe Francis (Girls Gone Wild CEO) said that they need the money to “invest in building new means of distribution, and shoring up our distribution right now to prevent further erosion from factors like Youporn and other Internet content that has seriously affected our business over the past few years.” (emphasis mine)
Translated, that means that people figured out they could get porn online – for free – and the industry is suffering as a result. At least the mostly religious right-winged Bush worshippers who favored the other financial atrocities bailouts will be against this one, since this one has to do with pornography.
The adult entertainment industry has the same problem the auto industry has – nobody wants their product. The auto industry has to make cars that people want to buy (instead of keeping their used car) if they want to be making money. The solution to that is to make cars that get better gas mileage, use alternative fuels, and offer features that attract cutomers.
The adult industry has the same task; they must create a product that people are willing to pay for. Then they have to take that product and market it in a way that creates demand for it. This isn’t rocket science, and since sex sells better than just about anything else, it shouldn’t be too hard for them to get demand for their products.
There’s no doubt people will pay for pornography, but there has to be a really good reason for people to pay for it when it’s so readily available for free. The adult entertainment industry doesn’t need a federal bailout; they need to do what every other struggling industry must do during a struggling economy. When they have a product people are willing to pay for, they will see an increase in sales.
Until then, they’re just another bunch of bums in line waiting for a government handout.
