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AIBU?

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Original poster

Porn star martini Pizza Express

591 replies

Flour8977 · 31/03/2022 16:47

Why are Pizza Express advertising 'Porn Star Martinis' on every table at their restaurants? AIBU to find this disgusting for a family restaurant? I don't really wish to explain to my 6 year old what it is.

OP posts:
huniepop · 02/04/2022 19:34

Some posters must have very simple six year olds if they would be satisfied with 'it's just a drink' when it would be obvious from the menu that it was a drink in the first place.

What makes you think a child would press for a specific answer? They have no idea what a pornstar is, there's lots of words six years olds don't know. Do you kids ask what council tax is? Interrogate you on what makes some bread sourdough? Blimey, sounds exhausting.

Nanny0gg · 02/04/2022 19:40

@collieresponder88

You don't need to explain anything to the six year old though. You just say it's the name of the drink just like any of the other names ! I don't get it
Because I know a few six year olds that would ask what pornstar means
user1471443411 · 02/04/2022 19:42

Yes my mine used to, they're older now but could be are unusual I guess, eldest on the autism spectrum and was asking questions almost non stop at that age, never satisfied with just one answer!

huniepop · 02/04/2022 20:01

Because I know a few six year olds that would ask what pornstar means

Ask yes. Press on it? Probably not, unless they ask about every single thing on the menu

lightisnotwhite · 02/04/2022 20:56

Normalisation means it doesn’t matter if they ask or not. They just hear and see “pornstar” whenever they go out for family pizza. Nice.

JassyRadlett · 02/04/2022 22:19

Ask yes. Press on it? Probably not, unless they ask about every single thing on the menu

But it's not the menu that's the issue, is it? There are only 3 things on the tabletop advert. I still don't think my kids are spectacularly inquisitive or observant compared to the norm but they can totally look at one of three things and ask a fuckload of questions about the eye catching one that they don't understand.

Alliswells · 02/04/2022 23:15

@tigerbird

Baskin certainly seems to think “pornstar” is “upbrand” as an image!

I think this is the key though - most adults know perfectly well “pornstar” is a misnomer because the porn industry is seedy and “star” is the last thing women in the business often end up being. But teenage boys and young men do seem to think it’s glamorous and sexy; and so do young women who think OnlyFans is cool and no problem, and that cosmetic surgery, lip fillers and so on are fashionable (very much a look that came from porn actresses).

In that sense alone porn has become much more normalised amongst young people than when I grew up.

It’s depressing - there’s a hugely high rate of coercion, drug abuse, STIs, PTSD and suicide amongst actresses in the porn industry. “Star” just perpetuates the cultural myth that it’s a fantastic sexy empowering job when in reality it really isn’t. In the same way that there’s a cultural narrative now amongst naive young people about the sex industry being empowering and fantastic - all “blow jobs are real jobs” and webcamming is great because it makes you feel sexy and free. Sad

Very very well said

AskingforaBaskin · 02/04/2022 23:46

@Tigofigo you're again misquoting me.

I explained that the pornstar martini was an up brand product.

The drink. Never said porn. Stop twisting it.

Tigofigo · 03/04/2022 00:32

[quote AskingforaBaskin]@Tigofigo you're again misquoting me.

I explained that the pornstar martini was an up brand product.

The drink. Never said porn. Stop twisting it. [/quote]
You've got the wrong poster!

BrightOrangeOrange · 03/04/2022 01:11

Just call it a Passion Fruit Martini in children friendly restaurants & call it a Porn Star Martini in adult bar.

BrightOrangeOrange · 03/04/2022 01:14

I think some people are just thick.

GoodJanetBadJanet · 03/04/2022 01:26

Just call it a Passion Fruit Martini in children friendly restaurants & call it a Porn Star Martini in adult bar.
There you go, perfect solution
That way people who are offended by it won't see it, kids are less likely to see it and want to know what a pornstar is, and others can carry on drinking their pornstar martini.
Sorted

Whatalovelydaffodil · 03/04/2022 08:13

Could someone please explain why they think that using the word porn star as part if a name of a drink is a good idea?
I don't know who invented the name but I wonder why they settled on that particular one.

liveforsummer · 03/04/2022 08:59

@Whatalovelydaffodil

Could someone please explain why they think that using the word porn star as part if a name of a drink is a good idea? I don't know who invented the name but I wonder why they settled on that particular one.
I've no idea either, which is why if asked by my child I could honestly just say it's the name of a drink and I don't know why 🤷🏼‍♀️
Lunar27 · 03/04/2022 09:46

@tigerbird

I'd have to ask my daughters as they're way more clued up than I am on what the youth think nowadays Grin but you might be right.

I think the wider use of porn correlates with the rise of the internet. When I was a lad, porn was inaccessible unless a mate's dad had a collection. I don't think I clapped eyes on a magazine until I was in my late teens. Nowadays, kids can bypass parental controls in a nanosecond and download or share files with friends. I've read kids as young as 7 streaming and more regularly/widely at 11.

If porn is more glamorous for kids then it must be limited to sites like onlyfans and conversely it must register to these kids that porn isn't widely accepted by society to be so. Like I said, they may be normalising it to some extent but they'll also know that it isn't publicised in any mainstream media, acceptable in the workplace or anywhere else in public. It may be legal but also widely unacceptable.

I think we're generally in agreement about porn itself and how damaging it is. I'm just struggling to connect what kids are already doing vs a drink on a flyer (must try harder Wink). It's definitely not an either/or but our energies would be better spent on education. In this respect I've always welcomed questions from my kids as it opens up discussion. We can't hide our kids from everything and a culture we're mostly unable to change but we can educate and guide our children to be rounded and make rounded decisions/choices.

Blossomtoes · 03/04/2022 11:53

@Whatalovelydaffodil

Could someone please explain why they think that using the word porn star as part if a name of a drink is a good idea? I don't know who invented the name but I wonder why they settled on that particular one.
Google is your friend.
Blossomtoes · 03/04/2022 11:55

I think the wider use of porn correlates with the rise of the internet. When I was a lad, porn was inaccessible unless a mate's dad had a collection. I don't think I clapped eyes on a magazine until I was in my late teens. Nowadays, kids can bypass parental controls in a nanosecond and download or share files with friends. I've read kids as young as 7 streaming and more regularly/widely at 11

I completely agree but I was ridiculed when I said it. 🤷‍♀️

CounsellorTroi · 03/04/2022 12:00

I remember back in the 80s/90s there were cocktails called Slow Screw, Slow Comfortable Screw and Slow Comfortable Screw Up Against the Wall. Do these still appear in cocktail menus?

Whatalovelydaffodil · 03/04/2022 14:33

Well Blossomtoes, I googled. This is what it said:

“It’s a super simple drink that was created for no other reason than just to create a nice, provocative, tasty drink. The name isn't really based on anyone in particular; it’s just more to sort of to bring customers out of their comfort zone.”

So the name is meant to make us feel provoked and uncomfortable.....

springtimeishereagain · 03/04/2022 19:09

@Blossomtoes - It’s neither new nor trendy, it was invented 23 years ago

Ah, I hadn't realised it had been around for so long. But it certainly is trendy. It's in every single cocktail bar I've been in recently. (Dd has just turned 18...)

threecupsofteaminimum · 03/04/2022 20:22

It's a bit off colour but it's not a children's restaurant so I guess not that bad. I don't think kids are gonna be perusing the cocktail menu and if they are, well, why!

I'd just brush it off as a silly word if my DS6 were to read it, I don't think he would though, he'd be too busy playing with his toys or colouring in.

NurseBernard · 03/04/2022 20:31

It’s not a children’s restaurant, it’s a family restaurant.

It’s not on the cocktail menu, it’s a flyer on the table.

6YOs, might be fobbed off, less so 11, 12, 13+ year olds.

Blossomtoes · 03/04/2022 20:33

6YOs, might be fobbed off, less so 11, 12, 13+ year olds

You shouldn’t be fobbing 11, 12 or 13 year olds off. They’re perfectly old enough for a proper explanation.

NurseBernard · 03/04/2022 20:44

Uh, exactly.

So, for the average non-stupid 12+ year old…..

A porn star is someone who ‘stars’ in porn ‘movies’ (it’s a long time since they’re been movies, and I use ‘stars in’ in the loosest possible sense). Porn is, as I’m sure you know, when people are filmed having sex.

Why would they name a cocktail drink after someone who does that?

I don’t know, to be funny.

Is it funny starring in porn?

No, it’s dangerous, violent and exploitative.

Why would they call a cocktail drink after something like that?

I don’t know.

Ad nauseam.

No thanks - I just want pizza and a glass of wine.

Blossomtoes · 03/04/2022 20:49

Don’t go to Pizza Express then. Other restaurants are available.

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