According to Rule 34, if something exists, there’s a porn version of it somewhere on the Internet.
That even includes Kickstarter.
We’ve already seen GoGoFantasy, a crowdfunding site for porn ideas and personal fantasies. Offbeatr (good name, by the way), is a little more businesslike. Based on a model similar to Kickstarter and Indiegogo, every idea has to receive a certain number of votes before it can begin the funding process. Once it’s fully funded, you have to deliver the goods. So far, so familiar. And it even has a Safe for Work toggle, so you can browse the site without your boss spotting Mormon-themed gay porn over your shoulder.
The most unexpected thing about Offbeatr is probably the fact that most of the pitched ideas really aren’t all that weird.
With Kickstarter and Indiegogo, niche projects thrive. Your Star Wars cantina band might never get a deal with a major label, but it might get funded by a couple hundred redditors. And while there’s little room for Doctor Who–themed handbags at H&M, the show’s fanbase will be all too happy to fund your new Kickstarter campaign.
But at first glance, most of the projects on the front page of Offbeatr seem surprisingly mainstream. Lots of movies starring girls who look like, yes, porn stars, and a handful of more nerdy ideas like a Sailor Moon parody. If you’ve been on the internet for more than five minutes, you’re unlikely to be hugely freaked out by the concept of softcore furry porn starring people with cat ears and tails.
Considering the fact that people can pitch whatever idea they want, it’s surprising to see such a lack of esoteric kinks. Where are Offbeatr’s equivalents to the giant inflatable Lionel Richie heads and Mah Jongg, the Musicals we find on Kickstarter? Maybe it’s just a reflection on the mainstream porn industry’s ability to tap into any market available.
Offbeatr’s project ideas aren’t limited to just porn, though. One partially-funded pitch is for a “Sex Twin search engine” that helps people locate pornstar lookalikes for people they know in real life. Potentially kinda creepy, but you know it’d have its audience.
Screengrab via Offbeatr
Interestingly, while most of the pitched ideas seem to be for relatively traditional girl-on-girl movies or tantric sex tutorials, almost all of the successfully funded projects are pretty otaku. In fact, many of them aren’t even porn. An adult-rated comic book called Monster Anthology: Slime Edition raised over twice its original goal, while a Web-based game about sex demons and sexy dinosaur cartoons are among the other fully funded Offbeatrs.
As with other crowdfunding platforms, the trick is to either have a pre-existing fanbase (like all those successful otaku projects), or have an idea that the world really needs. So while the stalkerish Sex Twin search engine might well get funded, we doubt that the Stripper Tipper will do as well. Why go to the trouble of using an app to transfer tips by email, when you have the tried and tested method of shoving ones into her thong?
Offbeatr is worth a look, even if you don’t have a burning desire to fund a My Little Pony porn parody. And you can be pretty sure that unlike with Kickstarter, none of its projects are undeservingly successful because the artist’s parents chipped in half the funding money.
Photo via Zigazou/Flickr