A flood of reactions spills from the mind of the cultural observer. For one, why does the only commercial for porn videos on TV show the oldest actors in the biz? Where are the new starlets that keep the industry going?
The answer, for this weekend, is that they're in St. Louis. The "Vivid Girls" -- Brianka, Tawny, Kira, Sunrise, Savanna, Mercedez and Chloe -- are on tour to promote the latest fake-boob-and-fake-orgasm-filled works pumped out by Vivid Video. These ladies may not appear in TV commercials (yet), but they are part of an aggressive marketing campaign that marks a sea change in what puritanical Americans will put up with.
Porn stars have toured and danced at strip clubs for years. But dancing clothed and hosting costume contests and adult games at downtown nightclubs is a relatively new development. Tobacco commercials and aggressive marketing of cigarettes inside clubs are forbidden and fading, respectively, but it's just the opposite for porn, apparently.
So what exactly do these young porn actresses do at a club stopover? The big draw is the $1,000 costume contest judged by the Vivid Girls, which also includes a prize trip to the "Porn Star Halloween Ball" later this year. Entrants are instructed to go for either the "Boogie Nights/'70s style" look or the "modern" adult-film-star look (see www.pornstarball.com for more).
And what does a modern porn star look like? Well, when she's clothed she might wear Pony tennis shoes. At least, that's the brand that adult actress Jenna Jameson wore in recent ads for the sneaker company. Maybe now we're ready for a Virginia Slims ad with a porn star and that famous tagline: "You've Come a Long Way, Baby."
