Amid the swirl of adult activity on the floor at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, Hustler director of marketing Al Underwood took a few moments out to discuss the new year's plans for the empire that Flynt built.
“We’re doing a refocusing on what our core categories are,” Underwood said. “So, as we go through ’06, it’ll be easier not only for the consumer, but for the retailers and distributors. They’ll have a very clear picture of what Hustler is, in terms of product mix.”
For a company as large as Hustler, growth can have its downside.
“Everybody’s always viewed Hustler as this large entity that produces all this stuff. And, unless you’re in the industry, that can be confusing,” admitted Underwood. “We’re going to roll out a very strong gonzo line this year; we’ll have a branded gonzo line on top of the perennial Busty Beauty lines. And we’ll have Hustler features, a special event kind of thing presented by Larry Flynt.”
Still, without talent, you’re nothing. You can bet there’ll be a sweet helping of hot new ladies added to the already impressive Hustler agenda. “We really want to beef up our stable, if you will, of contract girls, and we want to use the contract stars to push the specific genres, and we’ll guest star them in sub-brands throughout the year,” continued Underwood. “Barely Legal, for instance, will have Barely Legal Corrupted.”
But wait, there’s more:
“Britney Rears, who was originally a VCA star, is moving over to Hustler," Underwood said. "In terms of alt-porn, that’s really a growing thing, and we’re working with Eon McKai and Joanna Angel. We’ll be giving that a really big push. It’s going to be an exciting year.”
