Controversial organization ready to embrace new .XXX domain
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is courting a heretofore overlooked demographic: one-handed typists.
The controversial animal rights organization is planning to launch a new porn website using the new .xxx extension set to debut later this year. The news has led to inevitable speculation about how the proposed PETA.xxx site will interpret pornographic tropes such as “hung like a horse” or “doggy-style.”
While many companies are currently scrambling to protect their brands from “squatters” who may register their products at .xxx domains without permission, PETA – which has previously enlisted adult film stars Ron Jeremy and Jenna Jameson to appear in its ads – is actively seeking to associate itself with the perennially hot topic of sex.
“When we first heard about this triple X domain, we instantly looked at it and thought it would be triple extra effective in bringing important issues of animal rights and a plant-based diet to a new and potentially totally different group of people,” PETA’s L.A.-based spokesperson Lindsay Rajt told Marketing.
“Everybody on PETA.xxx are willing adults dedicated to helping animals in any way they can,” she added. “We’re going to have some very explicit images on there that people visiting XXX domains will be looking for; being who we are, we’ll have some graphic images that folks may not expect to see.
“We really want to grab people’s attention and get them talking and encourage them to take action for animals.”
Rajt said PETA’s application for a porn site is in keeping with the organization’s reputation for courting controversy, such as its banned Super Bowl commercial suggesting that vegetarians have better sex than their omnivore counterparts or its YouTube videos starring naked celebrities.
“We live in a 24-hour news cycle world, and what we’ve found over time is that racier actions are the best way to get people to sit and pay attention to information about the plight of animals,” said Rajt.
“We wouldn’t do these things if we didn’t know they were effective,” she said. “We’re hoping that PETA.xxx will prove as effective as some of those other things.”
Rajt said that PETA plans to promote the site through its member network, as well as its Facebook and Twitter feeds and a targeted online buy.
“People will probably be startled when they get to the website and see graphic images that they probably were not expecting,” said Rajt. “It is a controversial tactic, but we realize that different approaches reach different people, and we try to use every available outlet to speak up for animals who can’t speak up for themselves.”
