LOS ANGELES — Adult film star Sunny Leone has signed to be the global face of the new XXX Energy Drink, which has been launched by Indian actor-entrepreneur Sachiin Joshi.
The XXX drink name actually is a coincidence and not related to the adult industry. Leone has agreed to a two-year, worldwide endorsement deal with XXX.
"As Sunny's name and popularity have grown in India, many of the largest companies have approached her to be their brand ambassador," Daniel Weber, who is Leone's husband and manager, told XBIZ. "This is Sunny's largest brand campaign to date."
The endorsement deal will entail commercials, print ads, billboards, press conferences, events and more. Leone won the 2012 XBIZ Award for Porn Star Site of the Year. She made her Bollywood film debut last year in the erotic thriller "Jism 2."
The XXX founder Joshi told DNAIndia.com that the target market for his drink is young adults in the "18-to-25" range.
"When our marketing team carried out a research, we learned that Sunny is one of the most popular faces, especially with the male audience," Joshi said. "Among the girls, she was the most-talked about and so we zeroed in on her.”
He also told the website that he does not intend to try to cash in on Leone's XXX background.
“That is just a coincidence," he added. "For us, the three X's stand for Experience, Extreme, Excitement and that’s what Sunny represents. Her porn-star status has nothing to do with casting her. Sunny is an actress like anyone else.
"We are in the process of short-listing two more Bollywood names, who will feature alongside Sunny in the campaign.”
