WINDSOR, Canada – It has been said (too often) there’s “no such thing as bad publicity.” Even if arguably true, this axiom does not preclude the possibility of dumb publicity, because as we all know from the lasting success of sitcoms like Two and Half Men, dumb things certainly can attract plenty of attention.
Porn companies clearly know this, and they’ve never been averse to doing dumb things in order to create controversy or stir the pot of public opinion. Whether it’s a dumb job offer, a dumber job offer, an even dumber job offer, or filing dumb lawsuits, the adult industry’s recent history is littered with examples of attention-magnet-style stupidity in action.
For whatever reason, the dumb du jour of late seems to be shooting and/or broadcasting porn in public libraries. You gotta do what you gotta do in order obtain a modicum of fame these days.
First there was the incident at Oregon State University, wherein an attention-seeking young woman decided to forge 15 minutes of Pornhub fame by recording masturbation videos in the campus library.
True, Kendra Jane Sunderland faces a little over $6,000 in fines and up to a year in jail for her stunt, but at least now several hundred thousand total strangers have watched her rub one out while sitting in a library. That has to be worth something. (Something other than a year in jail and six grand out of her pockets, we hope.)
Following in Sunderland’s bare footsteps comes a carnal copycat, one Lilsecrett by screen-name, who allegedly has taken to broadcasting her MyFreeCams shows live from the Windsor Public Library.
Not too surprisingly, Lilsecrett’s shows resulted in her MyFreeCams account being terminated — because, you know, in addition to being dumb, unoriginal, rude and not particularly respectful of the library’s intended purpose, what she’s doing probably isn’t exactly legal.
“The particular model in question was terminated for violation of company policy,” wrote adult industry attorney Larry Walters, who represents MFC, in an email to CBC News. “Since these are internal personnel matters, our client does not publicly discuss the reasons for specific contract terminations.”
In case you’re wondering, that’s lawyer-speak for: “Look, what this crazy Canadian chick did clearly isn’t kosher and my client wants no fucking part of it, but neither my client nor I is so stupid we’re going to publicly acknowledge legal concerns were the reason for this termination. As such, with all due respect, we’d appreciate it if you would kindly fuck off, forget all about this incident and write about something of greater local relevance to your readership, like ice hockey, Nickelback or maple syrup.”
Only time will tell whether the shock-value publicity flowing from these on-location “library porn” masturbation shoots will pay off for the performers in question, but somehow that doesn’t seem likely.
A hunch? Nine months from now, the only time anybody will think about the library porn incidents is when they’re included in lame year-ending lists like “The Best Sex Scandals of 2015” or “The Year in Odd but Ultimately Forgettable Porn Moments.”
On the other hand, maybe licentious library types deserve a bit of respect. After all, getting off on public sex is nothing new, and judging by the way both women got away with their performances at the time they were filmed, clearly they weren’t being too obnoxious and or in-your-face in the process of making their videos.
Besides, when measured against getting knocked up at age 15 to become a reality-TV star, or pretending a commercial porn production was a private sex tape “leaked” without permission, shooting self-made porn at a public library seems almost respectable by comparison.
