Oh how the mighty one has fallen. Let’s be clear, we find no joy in reporting this piece of news but we feel that we have to. Have you noticed the lack of updates from Fratmen, you are not alone us too. Months passed between the release of new content, a formulaic premise with no signs of evolution that lead to frustration, a branding implementation that confused new costumers and complicated relationship with affiliates are some of the causes, to name a few, that we have identified as reasons of this apparent demise of a fan-favourite studio. But have the news of the death of Fratmen being greatly exaggerated?
Let’s break it into parts to analyze the scenario. What was FM’s biggest attraction? The guys of course. It was simple, from the name alone you knew where things were going, a very specific stereotype of men, gorgeous-looking (mostly straight) men in their college years willing to party hard and expand their sexual lives for the pleasure of the viewers that were attracted to that particular niche. For years things remained unchanged in that front, and for a time it was good. But audiences, like humans in general, got bored when these beautiful straight guys were mostly featured in solo scenes or the action between the models was restricted to a teasing that became obvious wasn’t going anywhere. Enter Fratmen Suck, a new spin on the old formula. From the outside it looked like this was FM way of answering to those vocals fans that wanted more and more, and for a time it was good. But the branding was confusing, Fratmen, Fratpad, Fratmen sucks were all part of the same family but readers started to wonder “if “X” model is in this site why we never get to see him with “Y” model on this other site?” “Do I need to get memberships to every site to get the crossovers?” This time it was not good.
The affiliates problem. Having good content is not enough, you need to promote the hell out of it that’s where porn review sites, like us and many others, play a part. Historically, FM had a complicated relationship with its affiliates but their strict policies regarding commissions via affiliates in recent years seemed to have killed any incentive for them to promote their content. Their recent statement on Twitter that “Affiliates have been dead for yeeeeaaaars” doesn’t show any sign that they plan to fix the estranged relationship. And coincidentally or not this was the time when the content, (how shall we put it delicately?) well it started to suck there’s no other way around it. The bar was so high from the beginning that when they started to rely on gimmicks (namely a guy dressing up in bad female costumes, bad underwear shows, and body painting) it became clear that some of the magic that made FM special was fading away. To make things worse, depending from which side you see it, a disruptive new business model was about to enter the scene. Live cam shows, what once was a low quality niche that was looked down in disdain by most people in the porn industry became, thanks to new video technologies and faster internet speeds, the cornerstone and saviour of the industry and some notable guys that started on FM saw this and went to build new empires of their own *cough* Gayhoopla *cough*. When a year or two ago news leaked that there was a raid on the house by police but almost immediate plans for a comeback were promised many said that the demise was just a matter of time, last September scheduled live shows stopped but the official word continues saying that Fratmen is not in fact dead, curiously that same voice promised new un-released footage when consulted by a fan about if the old archives would remain in place. Although we still have our reservations, we sincerely hope to see the studio restored to its former glory and not a zombie site walking in its place reheating old content.
We ask you QC reader do you see a comeback in the cards? Make the jump to join the discussion in the comments and don’t forget to vote on the poll!
[UPDATE 2015-11-03] We have reached over Twitter to get a comment on this post and Fratmen has replied. We also have some interesting new details, an industry source has provided additional reliable information regarding what happened/happens behind the FM curtain. Make the jump and scroll down to the end to read it!
h/t: DickBlogs
[UPDATE 15-11-03] A hot and sensitive topic like this one was bound to get some repercussions. We reached over Twitter to get an official statement on this article and @HostmasterJohn (founder of Fratmen and Fratpad.) said what you see in the image above, he thinks our article looks “great” and again denied any news on the dead of FM.
Additionally, we have some new tidbits from a reliable industry source about what’s possibly going on behind the FM curtain.
Industry source: John got into the business at the right time. He had great workers around him that helped him shine that he will take all credit for. Things have obviously changed when people left his side. John’s management and business skills are very poor. Mix that with being unethical and wanting to fool around with your talent… many more problems will arise. They haven’t updated the sites in almost 2 years. Fratpad had about 4hrs of shows a day for its last 6 months. Finally it closed due to guys not getting paid and partying issues.
There you have it, despite the official word, the rumor, to us, got a lot more credible now thanks to our industry source that indeed Fratmen is just on zombie mode and will probably remain in that state for the time being. QC reader, which side seems more believable to you? Tell us in the comments!
The post QC Open Forum: The Demise Of Fratmen – Is The Once Fan-Favourite Studio A Dead Man Walking? appeared first on QueerClick.