A Miami investigative report series has discovered that Bangbus is staged (link NSFW). That is, the models are not actually tricked into sex in the back of a van but are paid performers . . . Local10.com – News – Porn Bus Shoots Sex On The Move . . . of course, that wasn’t the end of it, as sweeps week needed more so they then went to the police and found out that the Bangbus business model is perfectly legal . . . Police Look At Local 10 Porn Bus Investigation.

Often during ratings sweeps week, news stations will have tittilating and sexual-content stories in order to gather viewers. While pretending that sex is dirty business, they report on it so as to draw viewers who are naturally curious about sex and are very interested in seeing how others live.

The Channel 10 folks reported:

Once in the van, the girls were convinced to flash their breasts, and the activities progress to hardcore pornography before the girls are dumped out of the van … But Local 10 learned in an undercover investigation, the women are actually paid performers, and the incidents are all set up in advance.

They detail how their phone calls to the producers were never returned and so they sent one of their "hot" reporters "undercover" to "get to the dirt" . . . basically, she pretended to be a model and interviewed to do a shoot . . . at least the newswoman from Cleveland was willing to get naked for the cameras. Well, anywhoo, the investigative reporting uncovered that despite the premise of the Bangbus videos of convincing girls to get into the bus and have sex for money and then dumping them on the side of the road . . . it’s actually all discussed beforehand and is consensual and the models are in fact paid . . . US$700 . . . for their services.

I know this may break the hearts of some idjit gonzo porn fans, but anyone with a brain could have told them that. In fact, the investigative news team could have just gone to the Bangbus webpage to find that out. Before entering the site, there is a warning page. Read the notice and it clearly states:

All images and videos within this website are non-violent. No humans were harmed in the making of any images or videos. All performers on this site are over the age of 18, have consented being photographed and/or filmed, have signed model release and provided proof of age, believe it is their right to engage in consensual sexual acts for the entertainment and education of other adults and believe it is your right as an adult to watch them doing what adults do.

They tell you straight out that it’s all fantasy:

The images and videos within this website depict real people and their behaviors when placed in fantasy situations. The behavior and actions within are intended only for the world of fantasy and it would be both irresponsible and dangerous to behave or act this way in the real world.

In other words . . . they’re making fantasy videos and you shouldn’t go trying to do it in real life.

They also allow time for testing for sexually transmitted diseases and discuss all sex acts with the performers ahead of time:

All performers are given the opportunity to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases at no charge to themselves within a reasonable amount of time before their performance. All activity is arranged and discussed in advance of filming and every effort is made to insure the health and safety of the performers and to ensure that their performance is a pleasant and enjoyable experience.

Of course, had the reporters gone to the trouble of reading that – on the front page of the website they’re investigating – then there wouldn’t be much of a story and the hook for their sweeps week story wouldn’t have been as interesting. Of course, I think they could have still done the story . . . after all, a mobile porn studio driving around the city is still certainly interesting and viewers would still tune in. See The Ride to Perdition from the Miami New Times.

Despite it’s legality and consensuality, Bangbus is still interesting as part of a gonzo wave in internet porn that tries to push the envelope while developing and catering to new reality programming. The influence techniques used seem real and would very well work with some folks in the real world, ethically-challenged as they are.

Interestingly, the investigative report team does not also send someone undercover to appear on the Baitbus (link extremely NSFW), a variation on the Bangbus in which guys are convinced to get onto the roaming bus with the offer that they would be able to have sex with the hot babe inside . . . only to have a bait-and-switch where they are then told that before they could have sex with the babe, they first have to have sex with a guy.

The gonzo erotica phenomena reflects the growth of reality programming in mainstream television entertainment as well as an increasing aspect of voyeurism in our internet habits. We seem to have a desire to see real people in unusual circumstances, partly as voyeur and partly to have a vicarious experience . . . that is, we live through them and their "reality" makes the vicariousness more meaningful to us as we can realize the potential for approaching them as the same as us rather than as the unapproachable stars of Hollywood’s mythic proportions.