Garnering international media attention since it launched two weeks ago, Freepornforourtroops.com, the site that sends porn to members of the military and veterans of American armed forces, has drawn a lot of viewers to the parent site and company behind the patriotic porn offer. Even Aaron Gordon, CEO of Dirctlink Media Group, the company behind www.freepornforourtroops.com, admits the concept was a good marketing ploy, though he insists that marketing wasn't the reason he established the site. rnrn
"Like everyone else in America I'm watching the news a lot more lately. The situation in Iraq and the 9/11 fiasco - in today's military there is a serious threat that your life is in danger. It made me think a little bit more philosophically about what the military faces. I wanted to do something for them," Gordon told AVN.com rnrn
What Gordon did was offer our troops up to 500 free porn videos or DVDs. The porn is actually free, although consumers are expected to pick up the costs of shipping and handling. The key here is the handling - the first video costs $9.95, each one after that is $5.95. rnrn
There is no membership required and customers can order as many or as few titles as they want. "They just pick out what they want, and if they don't want anything else from us that's all right," said Gordon.rnrn
"Basically, I'm breaking even on these transactions. Of course it doesn't cost $50 to ship 12 videos - but it does cost me money to pull from the warehouse and create the tape. I'm giving away my profit margin," admitted Gordon. rnrn
Gordon admits that there is no way for the site to verify whether or not customers are veterans, but leaves it on an honor system. "Since there was nothing we could do, we just wanted to guilt them into not taking advantage of what was meant for our military forces."rnrn
Civilians who come to the site are directed to another Direct Media Group site - Free-video-dvd.com. Here they are invited to sign up for twelve free videos or DVDs, with shipping and handling charges ranging from $5.95 to $7.95, plus the $9.95 premium. This service is the key to Direct Media Group's operations rn rn
"I'm breaking even on the transaction, but I've acquired a new customer that likes the product we sell," said Gordon. "They came here because they like discounted comps - and they stay because we'll continue to offer them discounted comps. Having our own production division, Mojo Home Video, makes it easier for us to provide deep discounts." rnrn
Mojo Home Video licenses content from other companies and create four or five hour comps. rnrn
Gordon claims to have over 60,000 customers, with 10% of his customers in the military, before the Freepornforourtroops.com site launched. He tries to direct his customers to his main site, Directlinksuperstore.com, which provides a greater variety of comps from companies such as Sunshine, Executive, and Gordon's alma mater Leisure Productions. While there are a few titles from Wicked that feature Jenna Jameson, most of the non-comp titles offered are those from Red Light District, "because they offer a high quality product at a reasonable price," said Gordon. rnrn
So far, Freepornforourtroops.com seems to be a hit - Gordon reports receiving over 5,000 unique hits a day since the press began to cover it. "We're getting hits from all over the world - Denmark, Israel, Great Britain, and more. We're getting a lot of sales from it," said Gordon. "There's a lot of FPO and APO addresses and a lot of military bases on the sign ups, so the military guys are definitely responding well to this."rnrn
So far the Department of Defense hasn't issued any orders to Gordon to cease and desist, though Gordon admits getting some hate mail because of his offer to service members. Gordon remains unfazed by their complaints that he is making relations between America and Islamic fundamentalists even worse.rnrn
"The (Bill of Rights) that we enjoy is what they hate. The freedom that allows you and I to disagree is what makes this country great and to me that's the issue. I don't think they could hate us any more than they already do so I don't think I'm adding anything to that hate," said Gordon.
