Porn industry seeks federal bailout

[Tech]

Larry Flynt FTW.

Obviously this is a bit of a joke, but makes you think.


Porn industry seeks federal bailout

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Another major American industry is asking for assistance as the global financial crisis continues: Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis said Wednesday they will request that Congress allocate $5 billion for a bailout of the adult entertainment industry.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/07/porn

 

[El Freako]

Apparently the sex industry is doing really well despite the economic downturn, at least in Australia.

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24874631-5017672,00.html

Sex industry making it through hard times as recession bites

By Christopher Varmus

THOSE strapped for cash may be spending less on restaurants and entertainment during a downturn, but not necessarily on the quality of their sex lives.

One industry is positioning itself to be recession-proof in the downturn, with manufacturers of sexual aids broadening their lines to meet the demand.

Entrepreneurs are flocking to the sex trade with even once conservative manufacturers like Philips Electronics and Hitachi have joined in the vibrator business.

"We're much more open now to experimenting sexually," says Louis Friedman, chief executive of Liberator, a maker of sex toys in the US.

"We’re seeing countless new products being sold to a much larger audience than people realized. Even the more conservative retailers have begun to come around."

Poor as we all may feel lately, it seems there's at least one bright spot in having to hunker down at home.

"This industry is shielded in a way," says Katy Zvolerin, director of public relations with Adam & Eve, another sex toy maker.

"It does seem people use us even more heavily in bad times."

Chad Braverman, director of product development and licensing at Doc Johnson, a widely renowned sex retailer, takes a more sober approach to the coming months.

"I don't know if I'd say our industry was 'recession-proof,'" he says.

"We need to be proactive in creating a quality product that's going to sell - and there's a lot more competition than there was 20 years ago."

"Of course, there's concern about the economy, but right now our sales are growing," says Michael Trygstad, founder of Wet, a lubricant manufacturer in the US.

"We've grown 30 per cent this year alone. We've had to completely automate our factories to meet the tremendous demand. People are deciding to stay at home and engage in inexpensive entertainment."

Slick marketing - and the ability to shop anonymously online - helps, too, which could be a lesson for all business owners.

Liberator markets itself as "relationship care," and advertises in mainstream magazines such as Men's Health and Rolling Stone.

Meanwhile, K-Y (which sells its lubricants at supermarkets worldwide) is playing the intimacy card with a line called Yours+Mine.

 

[tim290280]

I was about to post this as well :angrydude:

Check out the puns in this article. Someone obviously thinks this is funny stuff:

Porn industry seeks its own US bailout
8/01/2009 9:00:00 AM
Two porn moguls, including Hustler magazine founder Larry Flynt, are seeking a $US5 billion ($A7 billion) bailout from Washington, arguing that the limp US economy has thrown cold water on the adult entertainment industry.

Flynt and Girls Gone Wild video series creator Joe Francis asked the newly convened 111th Congress "to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America" in a bailout move similar to the one set aside for US auto manufacturers.

"Congress seems willing to help shore up our nation's most important businesses, (and) we feel we deserve the same consideration," Francis said in a statement.

"In difficult economic times, Americans turn to entertainment for relief. More and more, the kind of entertainment they turn to is adult entertainment."

The pair were quick to admit that "the 13-billion dollar industry is in no fear of collapse, but why take chances?"

Francis, recently imprisoned for nearly a year on a prostitution-related charge after pleading no contest in a plea bargain, cited industry figures that show adult DVD sales and rentals decreasing 22 per cent in 2008, as people turn to the internet for adult entertainment.

"With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind," Flynt said.

"It's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America. The only way they can do this is by supporting the adult industry and doing it quickly."

Flynt said people were "too depressed to be sexually active."

"This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such, but they cannot do without sex."