Porn Not Recession-Proof: Amateur Porn Good Enough Substitute In Trying Times

In good times and in bad, sin sells; booze, tobacco and sex have all weathered countless economic storms over the centuries.

This recession is a little different, though. It's been extremely challenging for adult filmmakers, who are not only wrestling with anemic consumer spending, they're also competing with a nearly infinite supply of free, amateur videos from countless user-generated sites, not to mention a glut of traditional inventory.

Read the full story here

-OR-

Read more about porn and recession:

::Meet YouPorn, The YouTube Of Porn
::Check out the Huffington Post's recession big news page

Comments

[Heavy]

10:06 AM on 07/29/2008

Woof

[Eric8869]

05:02 PM on 07/28/2008

Hopefully this country is sick of Bush and Dick and really looking forward to the big "O"

[wm1066]

01:43 PM on 07/28/2008

These porn kings made it quite plain they were supporting bush in the last election, and I think alot of men have decided to boycott them. Plus who can look at porn when your trying to fend off the wolf at the door that the Republicans unleashed on our country !

[SgtLucifer]

11:39 PM on 07/27/2008

Those t-i-t-s could sure use their own helmets.

[dadw5boys]

08:29 AM on 07/26/2008

ROMEY AND PHIL GRAMHAM ARE SAFE THEN.

[larry278]

08:28 PM on 07/24/2008

The amateur porn sites are killing the pay for play porn sites because when the world is in a recession, all you can do is grin & bare it. Hard times are like that.

[chicago25624]

03:35 PM on 07/25/2008

hehe you said hard

[VOTER]

08:43 AM on 07/24/2008

Is Phil Gramm investing?

[Topfeeder]

10:58 PM on 07/23/2008

What.................no pictures!

[chendri887]

09:37 PM on 07/23/2008

Regarding the whole thing about YouPorn. Is this news? Free porn sites on the Internet? I'm sort of being sarcastic, but I thought the Internet was made for porn. Is it not known by almost everyone who uses the Internet the free porn is ubiquitous there? Or am I, uh, a little too familiar with this subject than others?

[Titonwan]

07:59 PM on 07/25/2008

Wash your paws before you go back to that keyboard. (filthy animal)

[ndolomar]

07:56 PM on 07/23/2008

Having previously worked in the adult industry, I don't find it shocking that it's not "recession proof." Rather than being immune to economic downturns, vice-catering industries (pornography, alcohol, narcotics, tobacco) simply are "late to the party," so traditional forecasts misinterpret this as being unaffected. After Sept. 11, the adult bookstore where I worked saw an increase in business -- because, frankly, most of our customers probably thought it was the end of the world. However, as the economy weakened, our customer base decreased like that of mainstream stores' did. We cut staff and shortened our operating hours. Shortly afterward, while working as a copy editor at an adult-oriented, B2B magazine, I noticed the same trend: strong ad sales, increased subscriptions, impressive turnout and revenue from our conventions, and exponential growth within the online, adult-oriented industry. We were selling ads and booth rentals to businesses who could afford it. However, as their customer base stopped spending money, these adult businesses couldn't buy as many ads or have exhibits at our conventions. Our magazine, in turn, downsized its staff and offerings to stay profitable. Capitalism is an extremely interrelated practice, which technically isn't a bad thing. It only denotes that each of our industries is connected to another. Think of an island on which someone has the "Clap": Some may avoid it for a while, but everyone eventually will get it. The bright side is, just like our economy, they'll recover and be a little wiser, too.

[HamletsMill]

03:50 PM on 07/26/2008

"Think of an island on which someone has the "Clap": Some may avoid it for a while, but everyone eventually will get it. The bright side is, just like our economy, they'll recover and be a little wiser, too."
-ndolomar

Uh, is the Harvard Business School using this new economic model? But considering your work history outlined in your post, i guess it is a creative insight. Uh, yeah, good insight! Thank you.

[DRaymond]

07:30 PM on 07/23/2008

The problem is two people f***ing looks the same today as it did five years ago. So why does anybody need to buy new porn? For a while 'amateur' was something new but two people f***ing with bad lighting, crappy or no makeup and jerky camera angles starts to all look the same after a while too.

[robotfog]

07:53 PM on 07/23/2008

I hope this story is in no way related to the one about manhole covers.

[mamacat]

09:33 AM on 07/24/2008

Maybe the manhole covers are being sold to pay for the porn? Or maybe the porn is being hidden down in the manholes, and they forgot to replace the covers? Maybe the man and woman on the bike went down the manhole and forgot to come back up? Maybe manholes are the new bathroom stalls for Republican Senators?

[robotfog]

07:56 PM on 07/23/2008

sorry, I meant to post as a new comment, not as a response comment.

[worldtraveller]

06:50 PM on 07/23/2008

Great picture.. my eye keeps getting stuck in the same place going left to right though.

keep up the good work.. life's too short to always be complaining. Some time needs to be dedicated to the more important things like boobs :-)

[letsgetsmart]

03:56 PM on 07/23/2008

There is a lot of truth in this though. About a million years ago, we had to select stocks and track them as part of an economics project in school. This was in the late 70's and every one who picked a stock like playboy or other similar stocks made a profit when we were in a declining economy. I guess people who are laid off work like to hang at the house and read these magazines. During times of economic stress people want something to divert their attention and recent reports say that movie theaters are booming. I suppose you could track books and find that fantasy books or maybe all books are selling better. Small cheap diversions when times are tough.

[robotfog]

07:54 PM on 07/23/2008

In the 70's, you would ask for a playboy so you could seemingly 'nonchalantly' ask for something else behind the counter, like rolling papers.

[letsgetsmart]

07:56 PM on 07/23/2008

A playboy and a dube, what a combo.

[caps]

03:18 PM on 07/23/2008

gotta love huffpo for giving free advertising to porn sites. now that's what i call journalistic integrity!

[steveRB]

02:54 PM on 07/23/2008

Torture? No big deal. Katrina? A camping opportunity gone bad. But a declining porn industry? Impeachment hearings should begin tomorrow.

[KillTheMessenger]

07:17 PM on 07/23/2008

All I can say is

Wardrobe malfunction!

Scandal. Call The Spanish Inquisition.