LOS ANGELES — Two new ads created by Democratic groups are explicitly targeting porn viewers by illustrating the potential outcome of a Republican-controlled White House and Congress implementing Project 2025’s plan to criminalize adult content.
The first ad, a 30-second spot titled “Republicans Rubbing You The Wrong Way,” was created and funded by Progress Action Fund and Defend the Vote. It features a nameless Republican congressman entering a young man’s bedroom and catching him masturbating. The congressman then grabs the young man’s phone out of his hand.
“Sorry, you can’t do that,” the congressman says. “I’m your Republican congressman. Now that we’re in charge, we’re banning porn nationwide.”
When the young man demands that he leave, the congressman says, “I won the last election, so it’s my decision. I’m just going to watch, and make sure you don’t finish… illegally.”
According to the groups, the ad will run in battleground states on connected TVs, streaming services and other online platforms.
The second ad, created by the Freedom to Watch Political Action Committee (FTW PAC), is running on adult websites. It features an image of Donald Trump with the caption “Trump’s Project 2025 Will Ban Porn. Enjoy while you can.”
FTW PAC’s Wally Nowinski told the Michigan Advance, “I’m targeting guys who don’t find the last 12 years of anti-Trump messaging from Democrats particularly persuasive. If anything, they like that he is problematic or brash or whatever you want to call it. But they don’t know what J.D. Vance and Trump’s allies on Project 2025 are cooking up, and they might not be on board with that.”
As a super PAC, FTW cannot officially coordinate with the Kamala Harris campaign, but can raise and spend unlimited funds on its own messaging. Nowinski says FTW PAC has raised approximately $100,000 since forming in late August.
“I could raise some money for Harris so that they could run the millionth ad on Sunday night football or whatever, or I could probably reach a lot more eyeballs with a novel message,” Nowinski noted.
The spots are not the first to highlight potential dangers to the adult industry should Trump and the GOP be victorious in next month’s election. The #HandsOffMyPorn campaign, spearheaded by a group of adult performers, directors and content creators in conjunction with the Artists United for Change PAC, launched earlier this month.
XBIZ spoke with creator Allie Awesome, who stars in one of the #HandsOffMyPorn spots, and who praised the new ads.
“The first one is gold,” she said, referring to the “Republicans Rubbing You The Wrong Way” spot. “It's pretty much exactly what the Republicans are doing, intruding on our bedrooms and our bodies.
“I like how the ads demonstrate the intrusive nature of these policies,” she added. “Government overreach in our sex lives and our bodily autonomy is a serious issue that will only get worse if Trump wins in November, and/or if the GOP takes the House and Senate. If you believe in freedom of speech and freedom of privacy, vote ‘no’ to a second Trump administration.”
Scott Goodstein, co-founder of Artists United for Change, also lauded the new campaigns.
“It's great to see that an idea like this is taking off,” Goodstein told XBIZ. “We have a firm belief that our highly targeted campaign will make a difference in swing states among key demographics. To the extent that others can get involved and amplify that message, it’s a bonus.”