Donald Trump could make porn parodies great again

Billionaire real-estate mogul Donald Trump has been president of the United States only since Friday, but already he has been featured in more porn parodies than any other politician ever.
Trump has been lampooned in 14 porn parodies to date, topping Sarah Palin (10), Barack Obama (7), Hillary Clinton (6), Anthony Weiner (6) and Bill Clinton (5).
Before he became a politician, Trump was mocked in two porn parodies based on his NBC reality TV show “The Apprentice.” The rest are since late 2015 when he announced plans to run for nation’s top job.
More porn parodies are certainly in the works, especially with fresh allegations that Trump cavorted with Russian prostitutes and is being blackmailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, Hustler Video announced Friday that it has re-stocked DVDs of its parody adult film “The Donald” after learning of “increased consumer demand,” Xbiz reported.

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List of the top real-life targets for porn parodies and exploitation.

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Photos: Promotional photo from “The Donald Trump Sex Tape from BaDoinkVR (2016)” and “Brazzers Presents Erection 2016” (2016).

The 15 most controversial magazine covers of 2016

Race, Photoshop and Donald Trump were factors in some of the most controversial magazine covers of 2016.

Sports Illustrated, Swimsuit 2016

Sports Illustrated featured plus-size model Ashley Graham as one of the cover models for its annual spring swimsuit issue. Some people didn’t like that.
Former supermodel Cheryl Tiegs disagreed with the decision to use Graham in the issue.
“I don’t like that we’re talking about full-figured women because it’s glamorizing them because your waist should be smaller than 35 (inches). That’s what Dr. Oz said, and I’m sticking to it,” she told E! News. “I don’t think it’s healthy.”

Adweek, April 4, 2016

For the second year in a row, a magazine cover featuring Kerry Washington came under fire for Photoshopping the actress.
Washington said her picture on the April 4, 2016, cover of Adweek was Photoshopped so much that she didn’t recognize herself. Fans also complained on social media about the cover shot, according to the Daily Mail.
In 2015, InStyle magazine was criticized for lightening the skin tone of the African American actress.

Vogue, September 2016

When reality-TV star Kendall Jenner landed the prestigious September cover of Vogue, some fans of the fashion bible were irate.
Lots of people took to social media to write “RIP Vogue” for the move.
(See article by the Daily Mail.)

The Economist, April 2-8, 2016

Chinese authorities blocked access to the Economist website and app after the magazine printed a satirical cover depicting Chinese President Xi Jinping as a Mao-era communist.
(See article by Quartz.)

Discovery Girls, April-May 2016

A cover article about swimsuits for young girls in an issue of Discovery Girls, for ages 8 to 13, got a lot of people upset.
The magazine was accused of body-shaming for the article titled “What Swimsuit Best Suits You?”
(See articles by US magazine, Health, Today and Cosmopolitan.)

Girl’s Life, July 2016

A graphic designer fed up with the content of magazines for girls made her own cover of Girl’s Life. Using the July 2016 issue as a template, she replaced cover lines about fashion and beauty with motivational ones about life and careers.
(See articles by the Daily Mail, Women You Should Know and the Huffington Post.)

Variety, May 2016

Variety raised eyebrows with its cover depicting Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer as a Christ-like figure carrying a cross.
(See article by Business Insider.)

Maxim India, June-July 2016

Maxim India was criticized for Photoshopping the armpit of actress Priyanka Chopra to look unrealistically smooth.
(See articles by the Daily Mail, MSN and another by the Daily Mail.)

Conde Nast Traveller, Oct.-Nov. 2016

Priyanka Chopra was again the subject of controversy with an Indian edition of Conde Nast Traveller.
She was criticized for wearing an insensitive “refugee” tank top on the cover.
(See articles by the Hollywood Reporter and the Daily Mail.)

Time, Oct. 3, 2016

Time magazine stirred up controversy by featuring NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick on its cover, showing him kneeling for the national anthem in protest.
(See articles by the Daily Mail and SB Nation.)

BlackHair, December 2016

U.K.'s BlackHair magazine issued an apology to readers for featuring a white model, Emily Bador, on the cover of its December/January issue.
(See articles by Chron and People.)

New York, Oct. 31, 2016

Just days before the 2016 presidential election, New York magazine featured an unflattering image of candidate Donald Trump that branded him “LOSER.” Wrong. He won the race.
(See article by Adweek.)

Newsweek, Special Commemorative Edition

Newsweek erred the other way. It accidentally released a special commemorative edition that featured Hillary Clinton as the winner of the 2016 presidential election. It quickly recalled the “Madam President” issue.
(See articles by US magazine, the Guardian, the New York Post and a follow-up article, MSN and Express.)

People, Nov. 21, 2016

People magazine took heat from some corners for its positive coverage of Donald Trump in its cover story on the election.
(See articles by the Daily Mail, the Huffington Post, Mashable and the New York Post.)

Time, Dec. 19, 2016

Time pissed off some people with its pick of Donald Trump as its “Person of the Year.”
(See articles by Forward and the Hollywood Reporter.)

Facebook and the fake news problem

Facebook took a lot of flak for distributing false viral stories during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, many of which were attacks on Democratic frontrunner and eventual loser Hillary Clinton.
It’s a stretch to say that fake news on Facebook helped elect Donald Trump, but the problem clearly damaged Facebook’s reputation.
President Barack Obama said the fake news circulating on Facebook has created “a dust cloud of nonsense.”
Facebook is under no legal obligation to fix its problem with fake news being distributed on its social network. But it makes good business sense to do something about it.
More than 40% of U.S. adults turn to Facebook for news.
In August, Facebook fired the editors behind Trending News amid concerns that they were blocking conservative news. Two days later, a fake story about Fox News firing Megyn Kelly was featured in its Trending News section.
In the weeks that followed, Facebook spotlighted many fake news stories in its Trending News section, the Washington Post reported.
Facebook replaced its human editors with a computer algorithm that surfaces trending stories based on shares and likes.
In the last three months of the campaign, the top-performing fake election news stories on Facebook generated more engagement than the top stories from major news outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News and others, BuzzFeed News reported.
(Here’s a collection of fake news from the presidential race that went viral on Facebook, according to Business Insider.)
Some media watchdogs have put together lists of fake, false or regularly misleading websites.
A list by Melissa Zimdars, a media professor at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, also included parody sites like the Onion, because some people believe their satirical stories are true. (See Literally Unbelievable.) The Zimdars list was criticized for taking an overly broad interpretation of fake news to include “False, Misleading, Clickbait-y, and/or Satirical ‘News’ Sources.”
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has vowed to make changes to prevent misinformation from being distributed on Facebook. Those changes include stronger detection and easy reporting of fake news and disrupting the economics of fake news.
Media critic Jeff Jarvis and tech entrepreneur John Borthwick offered their own suggestions in a blog post.
Veteran tech reporter Walt Mossberg also offered some suggestions in a blog post.
Zuckerberg is correct when he says the problem of fake news is “complex, both technically and philosophically.”
Efforts to crack down on fake news websites, which exist to wreak havoc and generate ad revenue, should not harm parody sites or sites with opinions that others disagree with.

Photo from parody site Clickhole.

Media reaction to Trump’s election based on magazine covers

Last month, I wrote an article about how the media were portraying Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in their magazine covers. The covers were mostly negative, portraying Trump as a bigot, a fascist and an unstable person.
Most media organizations, except for Investor’s Business Daily, didn’t think Trump had a prayer of winning the election. Magazine covers about Trump ahead of the election were largely fearmongering.
Check out the covers from the Orlando Weekly, the Big Issue (U.K.) and De Volkskrant (Netherlands) from right before the Nov. 8 election.

After Republican Trump won the election, defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton, some media organizations took a conciliatory tone. Time, Newsweek and People played it straight and unbiased.

Others continued to bash the controversial figure.
The New Yorker magazine responded to Trump’s victory with shock and horror. New York magazine accepted a grim new reality.

The foreign press was blunt in its criticism of Trump’s election.
Adbusters (Canada) portrayed Trump’s victory as an FU to the office.
Der Spiegel (Germany) pictured Trump’s head as a comet headed straight to Earth with the headline “Das ende der welt (wie wir sie kennen)” or “The end of the world (as we know it.).”
Liberation (France) portrayed Trump as a shadowy figure with the headline “American Psycho.”
The Guardian (U.K.) pictured a victorious Trump with the headline “Will Trump destroy America?”
Time will tell.

The 2016 presidential election in children’s books

Based on children’s books, Hillary Clinton was destined to be president. But in reality, it wasn’t to be.
Clinton was the subject of a couple of glowing, inspirational children’s books: “Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls Are Born to Lead” and “Hillary Rodham Clinton: Dreams Taking Flight.” Yeah, not so much.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump was parodied as a big baby and a strange creature in two children’s books released during the election. They are: “Little Donny Trump Needs a Nap!” and “A Child’s First Book of Trump.”

T-shirts show continued interest in Donald Trump presidency

Last weekend, I was in Rehoboth Beach, Del., and took time to check out what the beach gift shops were selling tourists and vacationers.
Based on the political apparel I saw, Donald Trump continues to fascinate and amuse folks who like to wear attitude T-shirts. Those people include everyone from uneducated hicks to ironic hipsters.
It takes a courageous sort of person to wear such statement T-shirts. You have to be comfortable in your beliefs and willing to defend your choices when people comment on what your T-shirt says.
I saw more pro-Trump T-shirts than pro-Hillary Clinton T-shirts on display. One of the Trump shirts had a misogynistic message that reinforces his image as a sexist jerk.
What follows are some of the T-shirts I saw for sale last Saturday.
First a few from the 2016 presidential race.

And a couple more representative T-shirts from Delmarva beach communities.

Babes for Liberty: Using sex appeal to spread the Libertarian message

In advertising, sex sells. So, it’s no surprise there are websites promoting the Libertarian Party message using sexy women.
Libertarians support smaller government, lower taxes and less government meddling in people’s lives. They are fiscally conservative and socially tolerant.
Their message is resonating more than ever with the public, given the two divisive major party presidential candidates in Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.
Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson is currently polling around 10% nationwide and could be a factor in determining who wins the White House.
Babes for Liberty was created in response to Babes for Trump on Instagram and Twitter. (See articles by the Huffington Post, Reason and Liberty Viral.) Babes for Liberty is also on Instagram and Twitter.
Here are some of the lovely Libertarian ladies from Babes for Liberty.

A record 15 post-apocalyptic TV shows soon airing

In January, I was convinced that the trend of post-apocalyptic-themed TV shows had peaked with 12 shows. I was wrong.
With the fall TV season, there will be 15 post-apocalyptic TV series airing on broadcast and cable TV. The Syfy network is adding two more post-apocalyptic shows – “Van Helsing” and “Aftermath.”
“Van Helsing” takes place years after a vampire plague has swept the planet. It premieres Sept. 23.
“Aftermath” is a family drama about surviving a Biblical apocalypse complete with demons, doomsday meteors, solar flares, and other hellish events. It premieres Sept. 27.
Syfy is the post-apocalyptic network with four such shows in production. The others are “Z Nation” and “12 Monkeys.”
AMC is in second place with three PA shows – “The Walking Dead,” “Fear the Walking Dead” and “Into the Badlands.”
Why so many shows about living in a post-apocalyptic world?
It might have something to do with the public’s collective mindset, especially given the weak economic recovery under President Barack Obama, fears of terrorism, civil unrest, diseases like Zika and other horrors. Then there’s the looming 2016 presidential election featuring two of the most unpopular candidates of all time – Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
No wonder people feel like it’s the end of the world.

Update (Sept. 30, 2016): There are now 16 post-apocalyptic TV series airing on broadcast and cable TV. That's because the FX vampire drama “The Strain” went apocalyptic in its third season, with a global outbreak of vampirism.

Related:

List of post-apocalyptic TV shows