Abram Sauer Online

A while back I wrote a piece for Ad Age about the give-take relationship between Converse (and Vans) and alt porn. This product placement phenomenon perfectly illustrates how onscreen products and brands communcate to an audience something about the characters onscreen.

The Ad Age article was short and is behind the subscription wall now. But I wanted to include more of my interview  with Burning Angel founder and star Joanna Angel about product placement in alt porn.

What is it about Converse One Stars that make them popular apparel in your films?

Joanna Angel: Well you’re not allowed to show the logo on camera- so umm… what? What  converse shoes? Those were just generic “sneakers!” To be honest, I see a lot more Vans in our movies than Converse…. but there is something about Converse Sneakers or Vans paired with porno/stripper apparel that looks so hot. It looks so much better than big fake plastic heels. Maybe it’s something like- yeah- this girl is a porn star- but she also is someone you can hang out with. Everyone’s friends wear Converse… whose friends wear big plastic stilettos? No one wear those in real life.

So you’re saying you don’t select Vans/Cons based on them as a “prop” but more because they are actually what you wear offscreen?  

JA: I wear Vans way more than converse but yeah. It’s not only what I usually wear off screen- it’s also what most of the girls on my website wear off-screen too.

Have you been approached by any companies or brands looking to be featured in your films? If so, who and were you accommodating?

JA: Lucky 13 always sends us clothing to use and I have used their stuff before and recently when we needed some fetishy/domme type stuff JT’s Stockroom lent us some clothing which was really really nice of them because bondage gear isn’t cheap! We actually don’t deal with THAT many apparel companies- we usually deal with bands who want their tee-shirts placed in our movies. I like to help people who are just starting out- so many bands and other people helped us out when we were first starting… so if a fan sends me an email requesting that their band tee-shirt get placed in one of our movies, I usually say yes. I am a sucker for fans because the made me who I am today. If the tee-shirt is hideous… which 9 times out of 10 they are… I will like, hang them up on the wall or strategically put them on the floor as part of a “bedroom” set.

So you’re really not supposed to let a logo show at all? Really? So Vans are allowed because the “logo” doesn’t show even though something like the checkerboard design is instantly recognizable as Vans?  

JA: Yeah- I’m not a lawyer but you aren’t allowed to put trademarked logos in a movie unless you have written permission from the company to do so. It’s pretty far fetched that Vans has checkerboard patterns trademarked …. I don’t think you can really do that. I know I have missed things in the past…. but as my company gets bigger I’m trying to be more careful about this stuff.

Would you say Vans or Converse benefit from being associated with your films and lifestyle?

JA: I think so. It’s like an advertisement saying “this demographic wears these shoes. If you want to look like one of these people, wear these shoes!”

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Below, the original piece along with a mixture of alt porn production images and Converse ads, demonstrating just how much the two embrace each other’s “brand” of lifestyle and showing how “product placement” is a more complex practice than, say, Subway paying for its foot-long to be gratuitously inserted into Chuck.

Willingly or Not, Brands Often Star in ‘Alt Porn‘. Converse, Vans Help Add Subculture Sizzle to Sex - Ad Age

Increasingly popular, “alt porn” borrows heavily from numerous subcultures such as punk, goth and “indie,” including many of those lifestyles’ calling cards like tattoos and counter-culture posturing. Alt porn also incorporates those cultures’ brands like Converse One Star.

In fact, the iconic Chuck Taylor is a staple of alt porn groups like “Suicide Girls,” “Ariel Rebe;” “Punkgrl,” and “Gods Girls.” Vivid Alt’s titles “Debbie Loves Dallas,” “Circa ‘82,” “Skater Girl Fever” and “Role Modeling” all prominently feature Chucks or Vans sneakers. And one of the best known alt brands, Burning Angel, regularly features Chucks, and Vans, including in their seminal titles “Fuck me in the Bathroom” and “Fuck me in the Bathroom: Part Deux.”

Joanna Angel, founder of Burning Angel, says that inclusion of Converse or Vans is largely organic. “They’re not only what I usually wear off-screen, they’re also what most of the girls on my website wear off-screen.” And just as it goes for the “adds reality” argument for mainstream product placement, so does it go for alt porn. Angel: “There is something about Converse or Vans paired with porno or stripper apparel that looks so hot. Maybe it’s something like ‘Yeah,  this girl is a porn star but she also is someone you can hang out with.’ Everyone’s friends wear Converse. But whose friends wear big plastic stilettos? No one wears those in real life.”
Product placement isn’t always about a brand paying to be written into a film or scene. In its truest form, product placement is about using a brand as shorthand to say something about a character or to enhance a plot. Converse’s street cred is what makes the brand the only item of clothing that stays on in an alt porn scene. And in return, Chucks being the only item of clothing that stays on in an alt porn scene gives the brand street cred.

But the use of identifiable brands on film without permission of the brand owner is, technically, against the rules. Angel says she is aware of this and is making an effort to be more diligent. “I know I have missed things in the past. But as my company gets bigger I’m trying to be more careful about this stuff.”

Is there a downside for a brand like Converse or Vans to being so directly associated with such a lifestyle?

James H. Gilmore, co-author of Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want (Harvard Business School Press, 2007), reasons there are two sides to Converse’s exposure: “If one has an appetite for porn, and particularly for this genre of porn, I suppose the wearing of Converse in these films might be seen as some sort of retro wink at the more primitive days of X-rated movies. But the wearing of Converse in these films really only serves to make the porn more real to those who fancy such. For the many more people who could care less about ’street cred’ and this alt porn trend, word of this kind of ’street crud’ might actually hurt the Converse brand.”
So how does Converse itself see its position as a popular alt porn prop?

Converse Senior Director of Marketing Communications Jonathan Finn says that, officially, “The Chuck has always been a shoe you can dress up or dress down. We don’t make judgments about what our customers decide to wear, or not wear, with the shoe.”
And while Converse does not arrange for its product to be featured in such films, it also understands its brand positioning as “rebellious” and has no plans to formally consider the content in any way.

Meanwhile, Joanna Angel is of the mindset that a brand like Converse does stand to benefit from being associated with the aesthetic of her lifestyle, “This demographic wears these shoes. If you want to look like one of these people, wear these shoes!”

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 Finally, some very  VERY Not Safe For Work (or anywhere else maybe) examples of Converse’s role in alt porn after the jump: