Movie Ads on Porn Sites

All of the major and minor film studios advertise their upcoming releases on a variety of media outlets: TV spots, print media, web-based ads, trailers, posters, bill boards, merchandising, promo items. Additionally, the movie's stars appear on an array of TV and radio shows, film festival interviews and panel Q&A, etc. But, one form of movie advertising that you may not be aware of is the use of porn websites - and just about every studio utilizes it.

Porn-site advertising is cheap and efficient, especially for adult, male, R-rated films.  Many studios won't admit to it but when you think about it, it does make a lot of very sly sense.  In fact, for certain films this form of marketing makes a whole lot of sense.

Question: Who is going to notice a movie ad on a porn site? Answer: Everyone watching.  People notice the unexpected.  Most people viewing porn would expect to see ads for more porn not ads for 'regular' movies.  Not only that, but since only certain types of films can be marketed on a porn site, those that show up are without doubt viewed.

So, given its cheap cost relative to other advertising and its impact, porn-site advertising is gaining in popularity with film companies.  Some may think this is a very bad way to market a film but given the right film it makes all the sense in the world.  For example, Tim Palen, Chief Brand Officer and Head of Marketing for Lionsgate Pictures told CMG, "We did it, for example, with 'The Expendables' films and it worked great for us".  Any movie with a lot of action, a raunchy comedy, or even horror works very well.

Like it or not, porn is huge. Estimated revenue from porn related websites and other outlets was over $13 billion in the U.S. alone in 2014 - that's more than the box-office gross from regular cinemas! How does that go, oh yea, 'Sex sells'.