On the corner of South Robertson and Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles, minutes from Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive, there is a giant purple and blue billboard with a woman in a bra looking seductively over her shoulder. The woman in the ad is Chloe Amour. Her name is emblazoned in giant, neon letters across the billboard, along with the OnlyFans logo and her OnlyFans handle. Amour is among the most well-known creators on the platform and boasts a significant social following of over 2 million followers on Instagram.
Billboards featuring OnlyFans stars are cropping up in cities across the globe. In 2023, OnlyFans creator Eliza Rose Watson placed several billboards across London, featuring images of herself in lingerie to promote her OnlyFans. Last August, OnlyFans star Meighan Baker erected a billboard near the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. In January, the Las Vegas strip featured an OnlyFans creator named Hayley Davies on a billboard.
OnlyFans managers and experts in the industry say that the old school form of advertising has been a boon for the OnlyFans market. Baker reported that her billboard led to a 200% increase in her subscriber count. Amour said that she’s gained about 70 new subscribers per day since the billboard went up, leading to thousands of dollars in monthly subscription revenue.
Why Are OnlyFans Billboards Popping Up?
“Billboards work because they hit everybody,” said Sam Betesh, an influencer marketing expert who has worked with OnlyFans. “With OnlyFans, the market is really broad, and so you want to reach as many people as possible. The best way to monetize a big, broad audience is OnlyFans.”
Andrew Bachman, the CEO and founder of Creators Inc., one of the largest and most successful management agencies in the OnlyFans space, said that billboards are incredibly effective for OnlyFans stars. It allows them to reach the masses in a way that doesn’t feel invasive, and helps the biggest creators skyrocket to even bigger fame.
Digital advertising options are limited for OnlyFans stars because of restrictions on adult content. Social media platforms and many digital ad networks bar ads for explicit content or don’t offer OnlyFans stars premium ad space. Billboards, however, aren’t under similar restrictions.
“Billboards can’t be shadowbanned, can’t be muted, and can’t be scrolled past,” said Bachman. “When everybody’s going Jetsons, going Flintstones, is kind of a flex. And for a world that now lives online, nothing hits harder [for these creators] than seeing your name and your face lit up in the real world.”
Bachman said that Creators Inc. has purchased billboards for their talent, especially around major key events. “For us, it’s a turf war,” he said.
Taking OnlyFans Where The People Are
The agency often brings OnlyFans talent to major cultural events, and will purchase billboards to reach crowds at those events. “If we’re going to go to an industry event, or an event where the industry congregates, like Coachella, or Miami Swim Week, or New York Fashion Week, we will queue up a month’s worth of Billboards to kind of pee on our territory. We want to let other creators know that we’re there and let other agencies know that we’re there.”
Though the OnlyFans billboard trend is newer, adult entertainers have used billboards for decades as part of their marketing strategies, especially in cities like Las Vegas and Los Angeles. In May 2003, porn star Jenna Jameson appeared on a 48 foot tall billboard in New York City’s Times Square, promoting her website and movies. The ad featured her wearing a thong with the tagline, “Who says they cleaned up Times Square?”
Porn companies have also purchased billboards to promote their talent and platforms. Porn website Brazzers promoted male porn star Keiran Lee with a billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in 2011. Just a few years later, in 2014, Pornhub launched a G-rated billboard in Times Square featuring two hands making a heart and the tagline, “all you need is a hand.”
Even With Billboards, Censorship Is An Issue
These advertising efforts, however, have not come without backlash. PornHub’s billboard was removed after two days because of public backlash.
Eliza Rose Watson couldn’t place her billboard within 100 meters of a school. An OnlyFans star known as Savannah, who purchased a billboard in Perth, Australia, received hundreds of complaints. The complaints led to an investigation by Ad Standards Australia.
The investigation ruled in Savannah’s favor, allowing her to continue advertising. Some billboards have also suffered vandalism. Amour’s billboard has been repeatedly defaced and torn down. It continues to be resurrected, however, despite attempts at removal.
Usually, it’s the OnlyFans stars themselves or their management companies buying billboards. However, last year, a large billboard was erected in Los Angeles seemingly to get the attention of Kazumi. Kazumi is a porn star and OnlyFans influencer with millions of followers who is expert at crafting viral stunts.
A billboard suddenly cropped up with her face and the message “Kazumi please notice me! PS your OnlyFans is the best.” She later published a video purportedly seeking to find what “simp” had purchased the billboard in her honor.
Fighting a Saturated Digital Landscape
The rate for billboard advertising varies widely. Amour pays an estimated $8,000 and $10,000 for her billboard in Los Angeles, but rates vary widely depending on where the ad is placed and how long it runs.
Jeffrey Rosenberg, CEO and founder of Shoot the Moon, a media agency specializing in out-of-home advertising, said that billboards deliver double value because of the impact images of billboards can have online. It gives them a second, digital life.
“When you look at the digital landscape,” Rosenberg said, “it’s gotten more and more saturated. CPMs continue to rise. With out-of-home [advertising] not only are you creating this impactful, unavoidable, tangible format out in the real world, but you’re able to leverage that online and create a ton of earned media.”
Rosenberg said that the novelty of digital creators advertising on billboards often leads people to take photos or videos of themselves to post to social media. This increases the advertising campaign’s reach. He said that he’s noticed more and more digital creators engaging in out-of-home marketing. MrBeast, for instance, recently bought a bunch of billboards to promote his Feastables chocolate brand.
Advertising Requires Outside-the-Box Thinking
Still, Rosenberg said that he doesn’t think OnlyFans stars are making up any sort of significant portion of most billboard companies’ revenue. While they’re certainly becoming a trend, the vast majority of out-of-home advertising is still dedicated to promoting traditional brands.
Some enterprising ad executives, however, are seeking to lean into this new market. Ronak Shah, a representative from AdTime Marketing, told TMZ that his company “regularly works with OnlyFans models to get their names all over the U.S. with a particular emphasis on L.A. and Las Vegas.”
After the success of her Las Vegas billboard, Amour took to Instagram Stories. She told her fans that she plans to double down on the billboard marketing. “This has been a dream of mine since I can remember,” she posted in January. “…I know that the ad might still anger prudish people who can’t handle a sexy woman. I don’t care, that’s their problem. I’m proud of what I do for a living, and I think most passersby and drivers will appreciate seeing my face on a daily basis.” Amour added that her billboard was “worth every penny.”
