Lemons? Make Sexy Lemonade: Ersties Hires Chief Pleasure Officer As Pornhub Flounders
Anti-adult entertainment legislation causing industry to rethink its content—and itself
With age verification laws sweeping the world and Aylo Group Ltd., owner of the huge explicit entertainment platform, Pornhub, getting slapped with a record 5 million dollar fine for failing to remove existing, as well as preventing the re-upload of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and non-consensual material (NCM) from its sites, it’s no wonder other adult content providers are reevaluating not only what they are creating and/or distributing but also how to make their content more erotically appealing to their customers.
The women-run-and-operated site, Ersties [NSFW], is a perfect example, recently having hired its very first “Chief Pleasure Officer,” who, aided by a carefully collected Pleasure Test Crew—aka “The W*nk Squad”—will be personally reviewing the platform’s content to ensure everything’s as immersive and authentically engaging as possible.
Reported by UniladTech, the CPO’s duties, according to the Ersties spokesperson, Cat, will involve “checking that the shot doesn’t cut and change right at the moment the user wants it to stay, to evaluating camera angles, and the natural rhythm of scenes to ensure the content remains sexy, authentic, visually appealing, and emotionally resonant.”
Lights, Camera—Consensuality?
Viewer satisfaction might be one crucial aspect, but the Chief Pleasure Officer also reflects the company’s mission. That is, as Cat further explained, “making ethical, authentic, women-led adult entertainment, with a pleasure experience that’s like no other. We want our users to feel good watching our content from the moment they click on the website to the moment they ‘finish’.”
RECOMMENDED READ: Age Verification Laws Driving Adult Content Creators Underground
Whether it’s trying to criminalize the production, distribution, or consumption of anything remotely sex-related—as with the proposed Michigan law aiming to erase LGBTQIA+ people from existence—or utilizing age verification laws to effectively drive companies such as Pornhub out of business, it seems like the adult entertainment industry has never been so relentlessly, ruthlessly targeted.
But also, like Pornhub, due to its inability or unwillingness to prevent the proliferation of CSAM and NCM videos, it’s easy to see why. It sometimes even feels as if the industry wants to be in the crosshairs, especially considering Ersties’ apparently simple approach could be what the industry needs to pull itself out of its self-imposed gutter.
Filth Doesn’t Have to Be Filthy
Admittedly, religious zealots like the authors of the already mentioned Michigan bill will likely never be swayed. However, promoters of the idea that adult materials foster unhealthy sexual attitudes, like the objectification of women, or are non-consensually created, might have their views swayed by Ersties-inspired companies.
“Sex shouldn’t be intimidating, it’s meant to be fun,” the company’s site eloquently states, “so even the most sensual, sexy moments should feel relatable and beautiful to watch. We want to show the kind of sex you could be having, just with better lighting! Real people, real bodies, real moans, real consent, real orgasms.”
Since they are such a well-deserved target, compare that with Pornhub and the myriad other sites the Aylo Group owns: nothing about taking responsibility, zero about authenticity, and especially nada about consent.
Listen and Act
It’s naive to think the adult entertainment industry’s driven by anything except making as much as and as fast as possible—no matter who gets hurt in the process.
That was then, but now that reckless expediency is coming back to haunt them. If creators, distributors, and platforms want to keep raking it in—to the tune of 275 billion USD by 2032, as per Maximize Market Research—they should start by listening to what those anti-porn advocates are saying, then, armed with this essential knowledge, act intelligently.
Borrowing a page or two from Ersties’ sexually-progressive playbook might be one approach: not merely claiming you’re going to be more responsible but actually making systemic changes to ensure it—as WHPDD (“What Hasn’t Pornhub Done”).
Likewise, instead of relying on cheap algorithms to regulate what does and doesn’t end up on your platform, hire your own Squad. More expensive? Sure, but so is a 5-million-dollar FTC fine.
The truth is that a majority of adult entertainment companies are too big to fail or be outlawed. But that doesn’t mean theycan’t be knocked back, hobbled, or kept from evolving into a sexually and emotionally healthy, ethically responsible, beautifully imaginative industry, which might happen if those involved keep failing to pay attention—and don’t realize that sex, joy, and pleasure aren’t just profitable but important.
Image Sources: Depositphotos
