Girls Gone Wild; Exploiting Spring Breakers

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   Only a handful of students were alive during the emergence of the first “Girls Gone Wild” videos in 1997, but the lasting impact of GGW prevails today, especially with the revival of Y2K fashion and pop culture. Girls Gone Wild, for those who don’t know, is an entertainment franchise whose niche involves wild parties, typically involving college-aged girls being filmed flashing cameras, partaking in sexual activities, or participating in wet T-shirt contests. These videos were filmed year-round, but their Superbowl was Spring Break, a week of drunken freedom full of drugs, beads, breasts, and exploits of all kinds. However, even with their charitable work in 2006, “Girls Gone Wild for Katrina” where the company donated all proceeds of their Mardi Gras videos to the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina, GGW has a devastating past and lasting impact that goes far beyond the videos popularized by celebrities such as Eminem and Snoop Dogg, both of whom appeared in GGW videos in the early 2000s.

   The key focus of these videos was young, often intoxicated women being filmed doing racy activities. The reality is far worse than the surface, which in and of itself is incredibly unsavory. Many of the women featured in these videos were barely 18 if that, and often coerced into drinking alcohol, taking drugs, and performing, sometimes with the knowledge of them being filmed, sometimes without. Women who went on vacation years ago have found themselves displayed on posters publicizing the brand unwittingly. But coercing young drunken college students was just the tip of the wild iceberg; Joe Francis, creator of the Girls Gone Wild enterprise had a series of assault allegations, both before and after GGW Brands LLC filed for bankruptcy in 2013, most recently spending 73 days in jail for violently attacking his then-wife. In the wale of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, Francis seemed to go under the radar in terms of social backlash, but he did not escape the talons of a chilling TV documentary aired just under a year ago; Girls Gone Wild Exposed, episode 1 of Rich and Shameless’ second season dives into the history and dark inner workings of the Girls Gone Wild franchise.

   Any and all allegations made against Francis and the Girls Gone Wild brand have gone relatively unpunished, as women have come forward more than once since as early as 2003 to report harassment and assault involving the filming and distribution of GGW videos. The GGW brand has paid out measurable sums to the U.S. Department of Justice and other complainants for violations such as fraud, emotional distress, and “failure to record the ages of the GGW subjects” from 2002-2003. Justice was indeed served, albeit relatively cold, in 2015 when Francis agreed to a civil settlement that involved 336 days in jail over charges of child abuse and prostitution from videoing underage girls as part of the GGW content.

   A cautionary tale indeed for my peers who are, perhaps while reading this very article, lounging on a beach somewhere basking in the warmth that Spring Break has to offer. Seedy types come in all shapes and sizes, and cameras are not as large and imposing as they once were; stay vigilant, remain careful, and if you’re entering a wet T-shirt contest, realize that the handful of time you’re having fun in may lurk on the depths of the internet for you to find years or even decades from now. — Haley Berger

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