Nicola Formichetti Discusses Why Diesel Is Advertising on Porn Sites

Following the controversial announcement earlier this week that Diesel plans to advertise on platforms such as Grindr, Tinder, PornHub and YouPorn, the brand’s creative director Nicola Formichetti speaks to AnOther Magazine about sexuality and diversity in the digital age. Heavily inspired by the works of Oliviero Toscani, who produced provocative adverts such as the 1980s Benetton series, Diesel has become known for its cheeky, avant-garde campaigns since Formichetti was announced as the label’s artistic director back in 2013. The 38-year-old designer has also been known to work with and style artists such as Lady Gaga and Brooke Candy in the past, so it is perhaps unsurprising that Formichetti is drastically pushing creative boundaries for Diesel. You can read excerpts from the interview below, and can head over to AnOther to read the full feature.

On advertising on PornHub…
“Diesel were the first brand to advertise on Grindr, and this season we’re going to advertise on PornHub. Grindr is the one that all my friends talk about; they’re always on it, and PornHub is the same – we might not talk about it as much, but that’s the one we spend most of our time scrolling through so it just makes sense to advertise on there. Plus, their rates are very reasonable…”

On digital sexuality…
“This whole Grindr, Tinder phenomenon has changed all of us – all of my friends are always swiping through people on their phones, but they never actually meet anyone. Things online are becoming better than reality, everyone’s profiles look great but they’re all airbrushed. I wonder when there’ll be a backlash, when everything will have to change…”