Before becoming a card carrying member of the porn industry, I worked in the mainstream entertainment world for both the artists/production companies and the media. It was well known within that world that you had to make a mark to get noticed.

In the music biz, at least at that time, there were thousands of album releases a year. When I was an editor for music publications, I would get at least 20 or so CDs in the mail a day that were submitted for review. So which made it to the top of the heap? Well, of course we all knew we had to get that new Metallica or U2 album in as soon as possible since they were so high-profile. But then you had the rest of the music world who weren’t superstars trying to get the attention of folks like me and get their disc not only moved to the top of the pile, but also start the review off on a good note. One way a lot of these companies or bands would do this is by putting together some sort of kick ass press kit filled with related swag to the band or album title.

Here it is about 15 or so years later and I completely remember some of the bands who did this. Punk band NOFX released an album called Heavy Petting Zoo and decided to put an inflatable sheep in with their disc. Useful, well, no. Funny? Yes. The Ramones had custom mini bottle of tequila for Adios Amigos. That was useful if you chose to open it. I had packages from an indie metal band with a bong (bio organic natural growth system), I mean, “planter,” in it. A local band called Mars Needs Women included some vintage flying saucer toy and a ray gun to get themselves noticed and reviewed. There were special edition shirts, hats, etc.

So why am I boring you with stories of the music business and the good old days? Well, there are couple of porn companies who employ the same strategy to get their stuff noticed. Adam and Eve have done this in the past with releases such as Eden, Carolina Jones, Tailgunners and Lady Scarface. One company who consistently comes up with great promo packages is Wicked Pictures. The stuff for Operation Desert Stormy and Coming Home last year was way cool with spy glasses, ammo boxes, mirrors, and the obligatory shirts and hats. Now they have their two biggest releases of this year, The Wicked and Fallen, and have come up with their most innovative and coolest packages yet.

For Michael Raven’s film The Wicked, just releasing a really killer movie starring Kaylani Lei and Stormy Daniels was enough to get it noticed. But Wicked decided to spend a bunch of money in this lovely economy to make sure this movie got the credit it deserved. In the promo package for the movie was a blood-filled mousepad, beanie, T-shirt, candy, bag of blood and of course the movie itself. But the most impressive thing with this package is the full-color box it all came in.

The same promo box was used to promote Brad Armstrong’s 100th movie for Wicked, Fallen, starring jessica drake. The movie has been the subject of much hype. We previewed a trailer for it back in June at the F.A.M.E. Awards, and knew this was going to be a great movie. In this package was a candle with the box cover image on it, a lucky coin, embroidered hat, T-shirt, feathers, and the packaging for the movie itself is one of the best ever made in adult.

So for obviously BIG movies, why spend BIG bucks to make sure it gets reviewed. If I had to guess these promo boxes cost about $50 bucks each, and who knows what the actual boxes they came in cost. Times that by about the 300 or so they give out per movie, and you’re talking a lot of extra duckets on movies that had big budgets to produce. So why? Who better to answer than the BIG man over a Wicked, owner Steve Orenstein.

I called Steve and asked him who comes up with the concepts of their promo boxes for movies, and he told me it’s really a joint effort between their directors, art department, publicity and sales people and of course, himself.

“There are a lot of products out there and we want people to know — reviewers, buyers and customers — that there’s something special about these movies. That’s first and foremost,” Orenstein told me. In a cookie cutter day where gonzo and all-sex movies are cheaper and flooding the market, Wicked is one of the few companies who still produce primarilly feature films. Those cost lots more money, and spending extra money on things such as promo and packaging isn’t the popular choice in adult these days, but don’t tell Orenstein that.

“In this economy it’s probably not the way to do it. We spent more on trying to promote these movies than we have in the past. The boxes themselves probably cost more than the stuff in them, but we wanted to show the customers who think everything is created equal, isn’t.” And what about the unique box for Fallen? What if it doesn’t fit on some store shelves? Wicked is banking on retailers creating special displays for it, or end caps, or putting it on the top shelf where there’s more room. “The top shelf has no boundaries,” Orenstein says. “We’ve received more calls on these movies because of the promo from retailers and buyers, and even some of the other movie companies out there. Hey, I could have saved the money for retirement or spend it on giveaways… maybe I made the wrong choice,” Orenstein joked. We don’t think he did.

So you’re not a buyer or reviewer, but we’re going to treat you like one. Two random readers who email editor@genesismagazine.com will get one of these cool as fuck promo packs courtesy of Wicked Pictures, as long as you’re over 18 and can get this sort of thing in your neck of the woods, of course. Email your name, address and tell us which one you like better and we’ll put you in consideration for it.

(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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