Normalizing the Abnormal

Some of you may have recently noticed the discussion around a disturbing ad campaign implemented by a pornographic website named PornHub. Their campaign gained not only my attention, but the  negative attention of many other American citizens. PornHub held a contest asking that applicants to submit non-pornographic advertisement ideas to promote the site. The winner of Pornhub’s ad campaign contest is a depiction of a hand forming the shape of a heart with an accompanying slogan “ALL YOU NEED IS HAND”. 

PornHub subsequently filmed a video underneath the billboard in which a hired choir sings a rendition of the song “All You Need Is Love,” but replaces the word “love” with “hand”. The overall message of this ad was direct; you don’t need love, you only need a hand which will allow you to satisfy your sexual desires independently from a relationship. 

This campaign is unsettling to me because I believe that it contributes to the misperception of sexual normative. As confirmed by studies, the media’s inflated portrayals of sexual encounters cause individuals to believe that their peers are significantly more sexually permissive and active than is actually the case (Chia & Gunther, 2006). This study confirms that mediated sexual messages create an illusion that sexual encounters are pervasive among peers, which consequently makes young individuals more likely to say they that they will engage in casual sexual activity and engage this activity at an earlier stage in dating (Chia & Gunther, 2006).

Perceived sexual peer norms have been shown to significantly affect adolescents’ sexual behavior. The disproportionate representations of sex within the media are therefore problematic in that they produce standards regarding sexuality that are used as an indicator of normality. Pornhub’s ad campaign encourages pornography usage by creating the misconception that porn is normal and that everyone is engaging in this activity. Advertisements, such as the one created by PornHub, construct the notion that sexual actions are commonplace. This perceived normalcy may cause individuals to engage in sexual activities that are dangerous or unsuitable for their developmental stage, therefore increasing their risk for sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and dysfunctional relationships.

To counteract the negative effects of PornHub’s “ALL YOU NEED IS HAND” campaign, an organization entitled “Fight the New Drug” wrote a blog post that depicts some of the PornHub’s troubling contest submissions and revised them in order to portray a more realistic perspective on porn usage. This blog post reached over a million people on Facebook, and recent updates state that the Pornhub billboard had been taken down.

It is important that society receives balanced and proportionate representations of sexuality within the media in order to maintain a healthy society. Sex does happen, but the frequency and sexual behaviors portrayed in the media do not reflect the real world. It is time that the media stops infiltrating society with inaccurate representations of the sex, but since it is unlikely that this will cease, we as a society should speak out against these troubling representations because, as seen in the instance of PornHub’s campaign, people can change the messages that attempt to change us.

References 

Chia, S. C., & Gunther, A. C. (2006). How media contribute to misperceptions of social norms about sex. Mass Communication & Society, 9(3), 301-320.