In what could transform the entire distribution process for the U.S. and international porn industries, vending machines have proven to be a big hit in England as part of a trial run launched by adult entertainment company RelishXXX , based in London.
While still considered controversial, particularly among anti-porn crusaders, porn videos are now being sold in the men's restrooms in 30 bars in Gloucestershire and at one location in Cheltenham.
The porn vending machine project is helmed by RelishXXX founder and president Jasper Duncombe, a former baron from a long line of British statesmen who reportedly chose a life of porn rather than follow in the family's aristocratic footsteps. Duncombe is reportedly one of the UK's most successful pornographers.
After being ex-communicated from his family for his career choice, the young baron launched a paysite called RelishXXX.com, a hardcore oral site that sells Relish films and a variety of other fetish content. RelishXXX also sells content to Playboy TV and handles a distribution supply network to countrywide video stores.
Porn DVD-dispensing vending machines have been Duncombe's pet project and was launched in partnership with the owner of the pub chain, Excelsior Leisure. Most of the content featured in the vending machines is the same as can be found in adult video stores in the area, including titles from RelishXXX.
The trial will run until the end of July and will then either be squashed by critics, or will lead to a nationwide rollout of more vending machines, which could possibly include other venues than bars.
The overall feedback from the experiment has been positive from pub patrons, said an Excelsior representative, although the majority of complaints come from the British Beer and Pub Association.
The BBPA is concerned with the overall public impression porn vending machines might give the general public.
"What sort of image is this presenting the public?" a BBPA representative told the BBC. "Is it really appropriate to the standard-raising approach we are putting in across the board?"
Duncombe, the oldest son and heir of Lord Feversham, risked losing a $64 million family inheritance to become a pornographer. Commonly referred to as the "porn baron," he grew up at his family's 13,000-acre estate in North Yorkshire. He attended private school with Prince Edward, and according to the Independent News, his ancestors include Sir Charles Duncombe, an 18th-century Mayor of London, and Thomas Slingsby Duncombe, a radical Chartist supporter during the 1840s.
Duncombe's porn empire is now worth an estimated $7 million. Duncombe recently went public with RelishXXX. The baron and his business partner retain a 30 percent share of the company.
