Is Porn Recession Proof?

The best things in life are free.  Unfortunately, the porn industry is learning that lesson the hard way as sales go soft (zing!). Down 20-30%, Larry Flynt and Joe Francis have asked for a financial fluffer to help adult entertainment companies in their time of need.  But it's not just magazines and DVDs that are feeling the squeeze; the Internet has been screwed up too!  Thanks to amateur porn on YouTube-like sites, porn that doesn't require payment is easier to find than a swinger party. In a recession, that's good news for broke consumers who are worried they're going to lose their jobs, but what about the billion dollar adult industry? Can porn still make a buck in this tight economy?  If you ask an entrepreneur named Trixie, she'll say, "F**k yes!"

Just like every other industry, the formula for success has changed. Instead of passively watching sex acts, women like live cam lady Trixie, say they're surviving the downturn by being the mom and pop shop of porn. She has a web-cam filming her 24/7, and engages her customers in conversation to build client relationships. She likens her site, TastyTrixie.com, to a local coffee shop versus a big business Starbucks. "When money is tight, people feel more resentful towards anonymous corporate entities and want the dollars they spend to go towards people they can relate to," Trixie explains. The girl's got a point!

While adult entertainment has always been about finding your niche, technology has let customers take the reigns, literally. "Virtually Jenna," a video game that features porn star (and now perfume maker) Jenna Jameson allows you to poke and prod her with her infamous friends, sex toys of your choice, and even has a "Pimp My P***y" mode. At $29.95 a month, Ms. Jameson and her team are part of a trend of gaming software sales that have trumped the DVD market. Plus, there is no threat of amateur competition since video games take millions of dollars to develop. Jenna really knows how to stick it to you!

With much less start up cash, The Thrill Hammer's Allen Stein took a typical mechanical sex machine and put the controllers in his clients' hands to get an even more empowering effect. For a fee, you can screw his live performers, the way you want to, from thousands of miles away and see her reactions in real time, which offers the customer "a new level of intimacy." According to Stein, "People come back again and again because they've consummated their relationship with the performers." And how!

So, is porn recession proof?  Only if companies get real, and as realistic as possible. The consumer has to want to play the game too. Hey, we've gotta be able to do something to stimulate the downturn package in our pants!