from www.theregister.co.uk – YouTube has yanked offline an advert for .xxx domain names which featured two porn stars performing a sexually suggestive act on a hot dog.
But the 30-second video, part of ICM Registry’s $4.5m ad campaign to promote the launch of the porn-only TLD, was apparently removed from YouTube not because it was too saucy, but because some viewers flagged it as “deceptive”.
A message where the video used to reside reads: “This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube’s policy against spam, scams and commercially deceptive content.”
The ad is part of a series following a character played by Vice magazine founder Gavin McInnes, accompanied by porn performers Nina Mercedez and Kiara Mia, as he visits various purported .xxx registrants, including a “mom and pop” hot dog stand, to find out why they bought their domains.
If your imagination fails to fill in the blanks, the commercial is still available to view on Vimeo.
ICM president Stuart Lawley [pictured] said that four or five .xxx ads have been taken down by YouTube so far, but most have since started to reappear. The company is appealing to YouTube to have the “hot dog” video reinstated, he said.
YouTube’s flagging system makes it relatively easy for videos to be taken down if enough viewers objects to them, and ICM has more than its fair share of enemies in the adult industry.
ICM and domain name policy-maker ICANN were recently sued by two of the net’s biggest porn companies over claims that .xxx is little more than “extortion” and breaks US competition law.
The company recently completed its “sunrise” and “land rush” launch phases, during which trademark holders and companies keen to get their first-choice domains could pay a premium fee to get a .xxx name. Almost 80,000 companies reluctantly paid $200 or more per domain to protect their brands. Lawley said that the .xxx space currently has “comfortably over 100,000” domains under management ahead of general availability, which kicks off 6 December.
The company has budgeted $4.5 million for advertising before 20 December, placing billboards in Times Square and sponsoring a racing boat in addition to its TV and magazine spots.
According to Lawley, its pitch site at buy.xxx has attracted almost five million visitors since it launched two weeks ago. While much of that traffic comes from pop-under windows on other porn sites, he said about 30 per cent of visits are direct type-in traffic.