With ambitious plans, Take 2 expects to recruit more than 100,000 member in its first year, CEO Mike Earls told XBiz.
“America spends more on adult entertainment each year than it does on apples,” Earls said. “This $8 billion-a-year industry deserves a respectable place at the table in America's family life. Just because something isn't for children doesn't make it anti-family.”
Take 2 currently has 500 gay, straight and niche adult titles available online, and Earls said he expects to bump up that number to nearly 2,000 titles shortly. Memberships start at $9.95 per month.
Take 2’s concept is a borrowed one. Mainstream rental company Netflix and Blockbuster have offered delivered rentals for years, and several adult companies — AdultDVDEmpire.com and XRentDVD.com, for example — also have created a foothold in the adult rental market.
“Netflix and Blockbuster are our direct competitors, but they don’t offer adult,” Earls said. “We’re trying to offer something for the soccer mom in Wisconsin who enjoys erotic features; not the dirty old man in a trench coat.”
The decision to rent adult DVDs by the Fayetteville, Ark.-based company coincides with this week’s announcement by U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, who has introduced legislation that would tax all online adult transactions, including adult DVD rental. (Take 2 also sells sex toys and novelties on its site.)
“Her legislation is a perfect example why some tax ideas just don’t work,” Earls said. “How do you determine what movie is porn? Which movie would be taxable? It’s like making a sandcastle in the surf — it just falls apart once you get all the variables in place.”
Earls acknowledged, however, he appreciated the age-verification part of Lincoln’s proposal. “But we already have that set up with our credit-card process,” he said.
The company plans to ramp up its advertising on Yahoo and Google, as well as a nationwide multimedia campaign, to make known its adult offerings. Its ad slogan reads, “Grown ups are part of the family too.”
In Arkansas, Take 2 brick-and-mortar stores feature about 1,000 adult titles already in its “Couples Corner,” with titles featuring Kobe Tai the most popular, Earl said.
“She’s a local girl, as well as a former Vivid girl,” Earl said. “Kobe Tai is so popular in this corner of the state; she used to work at Hooters.”
