PornHub Offers Free Accounts in Rio During Olympics to Combat Zika

PornHub Does Its Part to Fight Zika Virus

by Josh Guckert

PornHub has announced that it will provide free premium memberships to everyone in Rio de Janeiro during the Olympics. The move comes after the CDC announced that it is suggesting abstinence as the solution to help prevent the spread of the Zika Virus. Corey Price, Vice President of PornHub, said:

As fear over the potential spreading of the Zika virus continues to grip the country of Brazil, here at Pornhub we wanted to ensure the protection of today’s top athletes, those traveling to Rio and the city’s current residents by offering free membership to Pornhub Premium. By providing an alternative to sexual intercourse, we are making an effort to combat this disease head on.

PornHub will also attend the Olympics on August 5 and 6 to provide Zika protection kits. The packages include a PornHub gift card, a can of bug spray, a tissue box and a bottle of personal lubricant. The company has named their initiative the “Ooohlympics.”

This act by the online company shows the superiority of private charity over government services. While state actors often attempt to provide for the common good, most often, they fail where other market-based conglomerates succeed. This is due to the very nature of capitalism, which allows it to easily prevail over the shortcomings of central planning.

Without capitalism, there is no mutual success, but only a zero-sum game: one must become better off while the other party must suffer. In capitalism, both sides control the ability to come out from their mutual transaction in a state better than when they began. This is in direct contrast to thievery and plunder, which also rewards one party with a desired outcome, but only at the behest of the other.

Those on the left deride “corporate greed” as an evil destroying society, but this motive for success does well for all parties. Providers of goods and services have the ability to earn capital, but if they wish to do so, they must earn the trust of their customers. Achieving this goal by default involves being accountable to those very consumers.

As Adam Smith describes with his analogy of the “invisible hand,” corporations may only get ahead by doing good by those it serves. Even if that market participant does not necessarily have the best of intentions, its actions must conform to the calls of the citizenry. If it does not live up to these expectations, it can expect a loss of profit and future earning potential.

In its actions in Rio, PornHub encapsulates these sentiments perfectly. The company may not be acting on good will whatsoever and may be taking these actions completely out of self-interest. However, the benefit derived is the same for those affected nonetheless, and PornHub is providing a positive to society. It is likely that the press coverage of the venture, as well as the courting of new customers, will also allow the company some future earning potential. However, simply because PornHub gets something out of the bargain does not make its net effect any less worthy.

As with any health issue, Zika has drawn the interest of governments and private citizens from around the world. However, it is possible that the actions of corporations may be more effective than any state actor ever could be. It is because the former group has the ability to innovate and become creative in its solutions, while the latter too often conforms to a uniform strategy that satisfies few while expending an unnecessarily high amount of resources. In the current and future crises, hopefully private companies receive similar opportunities to offer their well-crafted solutions.