What PETA hopes its .XXX porn site will do for animal rights

Story by The Takeaway. Listen to audio for full report.

Pornographers are lining up to buy websites ending with .xxx domains. Among the groups registering names is PETA, which plans on using pornography to discourage the use of animal products. “It’s fun, you know,” says adult film star Sasha Grey, “porn stars, sex kittens, so it kind of plays in with the words.”

“This is another step in what, to be frank, is a long history of very creative and innovative marketing from PETA,” Cindy Gallop, advertising consultant and creator of the website MakeLoveNotPorn.com, told The Takeaway. “That being said, the thing that I would question here is how effective this site will be in the context of what they appear to plan to do with it.”

PETA has indicated that the website will feature both pornography and animal-rights material – some of which could be quite graphic. It will almost certainly grab attention. For this kind of approach to be effective, though, Gallop says, “it would need to be really fully integrated into what PETA’s message really is to get people to actually change their behavior in the way that PETA wants them to.

The current approach, according to Gallop is to “make people very concerned about the way that animals are treated, which is effectively guilting people into rethinking their habits.” What is interesting, Gallop points out, is that it’s “exactly the same approach that the music industry and the porn industry are currently taking themselves to the issue of piracy within those two sectors.”

The big question is whether or not the approach will actually get people to stop using animal products. Gallop says, “I certainly question how effective that’s going to be particularly in porn, because we’ve seen that’s not particularly effective in the music industry.”

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“The Takeaway” is a national morning news program, delivering the news and analysis you need to catch up, start your day, and prepare for what’s ahead. The show is a co-production of WNYC and PRI, in editorial collaboration with the BBC, The New York Times Radio, and WGBH.