“They said, ‘Let’s expose them’ — but we want to be exposed,” Seibert told XBiz. “It was a three-and-a-half-minute piece on a 30-minute newscast. Ten percent of the news was dedicated to us.”
Channel 6 reporter Sarah Bloomquist initially called National A-1 requesting an interview, but Siebert said company co-owner Richard Cohen declined the interview because the piece was only going to run locally.
The Channel then started running promos calling Cohen porn’s “new kingpin” and promising to uncover the murky underbelly of Philadelphia’s porn industry. Bloomquist also camped out in front of National A-1’s headquarters with a camera crew, attempting guerilla interviews with employees as they left work.
“We thought it might be a good idea to call them back and invite them over,” Seibert said, who walked Bloomquist through the company’s offices explaining how the adult industry is driving technology.
Bloomquist mentions that HotMovies has more than 32,000 adult movies available on demand, and the HotMovies homepage flashes on screen for nearly three seconds.
The piece does attempt to portray National A-1 in a negative light. Bloomquist claims that Cohen “admits the industry is demeaning to women” and asks Seibert, who appears only from behind, if he sleeps at night, but Seibert said the net results were positive nonetheless.
“Traffic increased, not just after the piece aired but also on the days leading up to it, when they were running the promos,” Seibert said. “It was good for us. We’ll take any publicity we can get.”
