Imagine, if you will, all those couples cruising around parking lots with pro-sumer video cameras in search of seduceable teens driving cars they purchased with the government's Cash for Clunkers program, then you get to watch 400 continuous hours of the "Couples Seduce Teens" for just ten bucks.

"Originally we had planned to have consumers provide us with some small bit of evidence that they've canceled their subscription to another company's site," said a Pink Visual marketing maven, "but we thought that might get too unwieldy, so we decided to run it on the honor system and boil it down to a promo code."

Type "Clunkers" in the promo code all through September and get half off DVDs as well as new memberships to PinkVisual.com (and its gay little brother, MaleSpectrum.com) for $9.95.

We don't normally hype marketing putsches, but we applaud creativity, and Pink Visual's recent strategies (like putting iPods in movies, using recyclable DVD covers, and offering OctoMom Nadya Suleman diapers rather than offering to put her in a porn movie) are fun.

· Pink Visual (pinkvisual.com)
· Buy "Bubble Butts Galore 4" (gamelink.com)

The situation is not quite so dire as some reports have suggested: the short version is simply that, in the course of its work, Zivity managed to spawn two creations—the TopFans website and "War of the Roses" MySpace application—that were seen as, well, more immediately profitable than Zivity (we can't imagine why). Rather than watch Zivity wither away as its resources were diverted to other projects within the company, the powers that be decided to split the company in two, allowing Zivity to wither away grow at its own pace all on its own.

Porn Valley has long looked to Zivity for clues to mainstreaming: after all, if Zivity was able to managed to secure venture capital, shouldn't the rest of Porn Valley (arguably a more profitable enterprise) manage to interest mainstream money? Alas, it's not that simple: Zivity got the funds because it was a not very risque not-porn site started by Silicon Valley insiders. Very risque enterprises, started by Silicon Valley outsiders (or hey, even insiders) just have too many strikes against them to attract the VCs. But hey—given the fate of Zivity, maybe that's not so bad.

· Zivity (zivity.com)
· Amicable Split for Zivity and VC Investors (dailyfinance.com)

A series of stripper-on-stripper interviews (a refreshing change from the more common reporter-on-stripper interviews), Recession Strippers examines the relationship between strippers and stripping, offering perspective on what brings women into the business, what keeps them there, and, of course, how they're effected by changes in the economy. Up first: Laura Jackson, a girl whose been paid thousands of dollars to quit, but just can't give up the dancer's life.

· Recession Strippers 1: The Laura Jackson Experience (therumpus.net)
· Photo by Romy Suskin (romysuskin.com)

Yes, it's true: in their new weekly feature "Gimme A Job!", Zoo helps girls like Nikki Friend and Sarah Arnold connect with potential employers—well, potential employers who read Zoo, anyway. Though we have our doubts about the efficacy of this plan (at least for finding work unrelated to topless modeling), at least we can now say that we read Zoo for the employment section.

· Unemployed Sutton girl Nikki Friend strips in Zoo to get a job (suttonguardian.co.uk)
· Sarah goes topless for Zoo Magazine's 'Gimme a Job' promotion (cambs24.co.uk)

Pretty standard story, really: except that in this case, the "boy" is Abraham Lincoln and the "girl" is German pianist Clara Schumann, the face of the 100 DM. We always thought that sex was the solution to everything—it's good to see that the financiers are finally on our side.

· German Bank Encourages Conjugal Co-Mingling of Funds (adrants.com)

First, the bad (well, worst) news: of the thirteen layoffs, several were concentrated in the Production department—including two webmasters who were sent packing. Though we're not surprised to hear this—production is expensive!—we're still saddened by the news. Kink.com's high quality, in house production has always been one of its most appealing features (well, aside from the extreme kink), and we're crossing our fingers that these layoffs don't lead to a reduction in quality.

Which brings us to our second point: what led to the layoffs to begin with? Why, the same story we've heard over and over again, from mainstream companies across the country: during boom times, Kink.com expanded—so much so that when their revenues began to slow down, their profits disappeared.

And what about this idea of recession-proof porn? Are porn layoffs a sign that the economy is, well, that fucked?

We're going to go with a no... kinda. Yes, the economy is clearly in dire straits, but it's not solely the economy that's to blame for the porn industry's troubles.

The idea that porn is "recession-proof" is one that's oft misunderstood. The porn industry itself isn't what's recession-proof, it's the desire for porn that withstands economic woe. But with Pornhub and Redtube providing ample access to free hardcore content, high quality, studio-produced content can more easily be written off as a luxury—one that can fall by the wayside during tough times.

Recently laid off Kinkster Thomas Roche offered us another opinion:

I think the key to porn seeming recession-proof is that for years it was tied to organized crime, which has pretty shady ways of doing business. In the time that the vast majority of the porn industry has been above-board, both the economy and the tech sector have been growing at a rapid pace. In any given 3-5-year period, there have been new offerings and new products, and new developments in terms of what porn decides it can get away with, so there's always something new being offered. The economy pretty much couldn't compete with that until now. All recessions since porn became "legit" or semi-legit (in fact, back to the '30s) are a blip on the radar compared to this one. There is no period to compare this to.

The times, they are a-changin'.

· Greetings from the downsized (thomasroche.com)
· Thumbnail: Like Madison Young, Kink.com is now hogtied by the economy (hogtied.com)

Given the little we know about the layoffs, it's difficult to say what effect this will have on Kink's production. We can only hope that the surrenders will still be ultimate, the machines will keep on fucking, the pussy will still be wired, and that the piss will keep on flowing... and, of course, if anyone knows any details about the layoffs, please keep us informed!

· Kink.com Lays Off 15% of its Staff (sfist.com)
· Thumbnail: We hope Kink.com fairs better than Annie Cruz (ultimatesurrender.com)

Well, we're not sure—but apparently there are people who are. Specifically, people who read The Daily Beast—the site just released the results of their Valentine's Day survey, unveiling this depressing and completely unromantic statistic.

So what do you think: is this phenomenon limited to the Daily Beast demographic, or are you affected by the sex recession (sexcession?) as well? If this trend starts to spread across the nation—well, it's a good thing we have that stockpile of porn.

· The New Baby Bust (thedailybeast.com)
· Thumbnail: Bobbi Starr and Dana DeArmond cope with the sexcession (pornpros.com)

Our anonymous tipster reports:

Two weeks ago, Jason P., one of the assistant producers who was in charge of NA's gay division, Suite 703, until it folded, was laid off with only two weeks severance pay.

I also just received an email earlier today from someone who worked in both the affiliates and marketing departments at NA:
"So yeah... I got canned the end of last week- along with a few others. There are also more layoffs to come soon..."

· Thumbnail star Priya Rai during boom times (naughtyamerica.com)

*****

Previously: Rumored Layoffs At Naughty America

But wait, there's hope! AVN has a few ideas about how to stay in business... while giving content away for free. It's revolutionary! It's amazing! And you know what? It might actually work—especially since the main gist for the suggestions seems to be "give the people something worth paying for."

· The Free Content Boom (avn.com)
· Thumbnail star Diana keeps business booming (anilos.com, via Ask Jolene)

· PornBailout.com Offering Up to $60 Per Trial on Select Sites (xbiz.com)
· Thumbnail: Business expert Dominno provides all the stimulus we need (incrediblecontent.com)

An anonymous tip just received by the Fleshbot staff indicates that things might not be so rosy—at least not for one company:

I just got off the phone with [a Naughty America staff member], who was telling me the story of how the entire Los Angeles production crew was laid off yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. As they were wrapping up their final shoot of the day, all of the employees who were at the studio—roughly 15 of them—were asked to sit down for a conference. Out of nowhere, Laura D. (executive producer) and Michelle (head of HR) appeared and informed everyone that they were going to be laid off. They were offered two options: two weeks severance pay in addition to the two weeks of vacation pay they were about to get paid—apparently the production crew were all about to go on a two-week paid hiatus, OR, two weeks paid vacation after which they would return to assist in the tear-down of the studio, which would probably take two weeks, and two weeks severance pay. Basically, four weeks of pay or six weeks of pay. It sounds like everyone was stunned and a lot of tears were shed, including many from Laura D.

Also from the phone conversation I learned that NA is sitting on about three weeks worth of unedited footage that will hold them afloat for roughly a few more months, but there isn't any word what the company is going to do after that. I would imagine that those employees working in NA's San Diego office who haven't yet been laid off are wondering what kind of job security they have at this point. I've heard of at least three layoffs from within the San Diego office over the past two months. The economy is truly affecting us all.

If this is true, we're both shocked and saddened—Naughty America has long been a Fleshbot fave, and to see them taken down by economic woes would be truly tragic. We hope this email isn't a sign of things to come across the entire industry—it's so much better when people are getting laid, rather than laid off.

· Thumbnail illustrates happier times at the Naughty Office (naughtyofficegallery.com, via Ask Jolene)

We can only assume that that was (more or less) the idea behind "Ask A Stripper Anything?", a web video series produced by Rick's Cabaret. The series, which has been going strong(ish) since mid-August, features Heather—the stripper in question—asking, and answering, questions about anything (though mostly about sex).

Well, if the adult industry wants to survive, it has to embrace new technology, right?

(And no, we don't know why the title ends in a question mark, either.)

· Ask A Stripper Videos (ricks.com)
· Rick's Cabaret (ricks.com)

We don't think there's an easy answer. Obviously, sexual urges will trump any financial hardship. But whether people will continue to shell out their ever dwindling dollars, especially in an environment glutted with free and easy access to pirated porn—well, that remains to be seen.

Despite our hesitation, however, there's someone who seems fairly certain that the adult industry (or at least one adult publication) is completely indestructible: Jossip has legendary big boobie rag Juggs on their list of "indestructible" magazines. What makes Juggs so rock solid?

"How do porno magazines still exist," you ask, "with such a proliferation of free pornography on the Internet?" Wake up, snob: The great majority of people in the world don't own computers, and even some people who do own computers don't have Internet access. What everyone in the world does have is a desire to reach orgasm. So while you sit in front of the computer, trying to stay aroused while battling relentless pop-ups, Joe Sixpack is going to the bodega, picking up Juggs and getting his rocks off the old-fashioned way. Also working in Juggs' favor is that, despite its tremendously cheap production, it can still fetch around eight to 10 dollars—less if you buy it in three-packs (not that we've price-checked it or anything).

And, we might add, none other than Kelly Madison is on the cover of the December 2008 issue. Indestructible, indeed.

· 5 Indestructible Magazines (jossip.com)
· Thumbnail star: Indestructible Kelly Madison (kellyfind.com)