“You and me baby ain’t nothin’ but mammals…”
The Bloodhound Gang’s earworm hit may have won over hearts for a brief period of time in 1999, but we’re bringing it back and replacing “mammals” with “insects” for this un-bee-lievable story of porn, fundraising, and bees.
Montreal-based pornography site Pornhub, which launched in 2007 and has since expanded its offices to cities like San Francisco, London, and New Orleans, unveiled the Beesexual channel in mid-April under its Pornhub Cares banner. The goal? To raise money for Operation Honey Bee and The Center for Honeybee Research.
“The bee population is dwindling at an alarming rate and the trend has only increased over the past couple of years due to habitat loss and increased pesticide use,” Pornhub vice-president, Corey Price, says. “As of today, more than 700 North American bee species are on the path toward extinction, which will ultimately have a devastating effect on global agriculture. That’s why we decided to launch Beesexual, a campaign to raise awareness around the declining bee population and to raise funds for conservation efforts.”
Wait, what exactly is bee porn?
If you’re conjuring images of porn stars in beekeeper outfits or people with sex-injury-like-hives, rest assured that these offerings are 100 per cent au naturel. Pornhub collected short videos of foraging bees and then had some of its stars lend their voices to the kinky scripts. It’s actually quite a fascinating contrast, albeit one that reminds us of those guys goofing off in the back during biology class.
How did it help save bees?
According to Price, every time someone watched a Beesexual video, Pornhub donated 50 cents to one of the aforementioned charities. The fundraising campaign itself ended on May 16, but the videos are still available to view.
Even more importantly, the buzz-worthy episodes are a way to raise awareness of the ongoing plight North American bees are facing, and to encourage subscribers to do their part by avoiding products that use pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides, which often kill bees.
“Our ultimate goal for the Beesexual campaign is to help save the shrinking bee population by raising awareness around the issue,” Price adds. “Responses so far have been overwhelmingly positive. We’re all about lending a hand and helping raise awareness via social good initiatives.”
Like the official Beesexual channel touts, Pornhub is here to make sure everyone is having great sex—even mother nature.
What else does Pornhub care about?
Sometimes deemed the Netflix for porn, Pornhub has been exploring its environmental responsibility since it launched its Pornhub Cares program in 2015. Since then, bees are just the latest creatures to benefit from its unique brand of activism.
In the past the company has also launched initiatives to stop deforestation, to raise awareness and money for World Whale Day and whale conservation efforts, and to help panda conservation charities in honour of National Panda Day.
It isn’t stopping at environmental concerns either. The company has also tackled issues like breast and testicular cancer, domestic abuse, and women in STEM.
“Since the inception of Pornhub Cares we’ve announced a number of initiatives that allow us to give back to our fans, provide for those in need, and make a positive impact on the world,” Price says. “We’re always looking for new, creative initiatives that will allow us to have a positive impact on the world, as well as bring happiness to our viewers.”
Well isn’t that a bee-autiful thing.