To any parents who have ever had trouble coming up with just the right words to say when attempting to incite a discussion about sex, consent and pornography, you're definitely not alone, since that scenario has the potential to be one of the most dreadful non-injurious encounters one can have with offspring. But it doesn't have to be that uncomfortable, and New Zealand has introduced a new series of TV and online ads that aim to jump-start more casual conversations about sex, porn, bullying and more between parents and children.
What better way to do that than with fake porn stars, amirite? The initiative Keep It Real Online brought in two attractive actors as stand-ins for the morally minded adult performers in its recent pornography-centered ad, with New Zealand comedian Justine Smith taking on the role of the confused-turned-concerned mother. Take a look at the commercial below to get a sense of the risqué PG vibe that they're going for.
As seen in the ad above, the two "porn stars" (who totally look like they should be WWE superstars) show up at this particular household because they know that there's a pubescent boy in the house who just looked them up online, and they want to warn the mother about it. The effectiveness of this approach aside, how golly-damned frightening would it be to have a self-gratification session interrupted by your mother's announcement that the apples of your porno-watching eyes are standing naked at the door, fully aware of your web-viewing habits? If nothing else, it would likely frighten anyone into burying their horniness so that deeper conversations could take place.
The kid's reaction is right in line with how a lot of people might react to such a visit, although perhaps not everyone would be eating a big bowl of food in the middle of a porn-watching sesh that may or may not have been happening on his own mother's phone. Or at the very least, it wouldn't be a food that requires a spoon to eat.
Personal phobias aside, the commercial is a keen and clever way to approach a topic that doesn't get much of the spotlight when it comes to conversations about how sex is depicted in the adult entertainment industry. As the acting duo Derek (Paris Theodosiou) and Sue (Cassandra Woodhouse) put it, their performances are created for adults to watch, and that kids might not grasp that what they're seeing isn't a 1:1 correlation for how sexy relationships and situations play out in real life. For one thing, consent isn't always addressed, or even displayed, and Derek points out that he wouldn't act like that in real life.
Thankfully, the commercial ended before viewers got to see the uncomfortable conversation that happened between this kid and his mum. But that doesn't mean the ad shouldn't inspire conversations between parents and children all around the world.
The same goes for each of the commercials crafted by the Keep It Real Online team, who also produced spots for personal grooming, inappropriate content and bullying. It's hard to know whether or not U.S. networks would air these kinds of ads, but here's hoping enough people will be able to catch them online in order to start having smarter inter-generational conversations about important social topics like those listed above. Even if not everyone can have nude porn stars popping by for front-door conversations. (P.S. if any porn stars show up trying to get you to lick toads, go ahead and turn them down.)
