Sask. village name 'Climax' secures residents free lifetime memberships for porn website

Some residents of Climax, Sask., may be getting excited for a reason that has everything to do with a town name that invites anticipation.

Lane Johnson is a resident of the village of 200 people, located 400 kilometres southwest of Regina, and admits, "We always do kind of make jokes about our name."

I laughed pretty hard. I thought, 'Well, that's something you don't see every day.'- Lane Johnson, resident of Climax

But Johnson's having the last laugh. 

Pornhub, an online source for adult entertainment, launched a new marketing strategy last week, offering free lifetime memberships to their premium HD streaming service to towns around the world with names that are sexually suggestive.

Canadian contenders on the list include Hairy Hill, Alta.; Dildo, Nfld.; Balls Creek, N.S.; Come By Chance, Nfld. — and Climax, Sask.

"I laughed pretty hard. I thought, 'Well, that's something you don't see every day,'" said Johnson of the news.

Shortly after the announcement, people were sending him links and press releases about it.

"Good to see that they think of me, I guess," he said.

Corey Price, vice-president with Pornhub, said that towns with sexually suggestive names end up the butt of jokes, but he said the company thinks "a name is worth celebrating, rather than subject to incessant ridicule."

Official Pornhub premium places will be added to an interactive map that highlights the small towns and villages, which stretch everywhere from Rectum, Netherlands, to Cumming, Georgia. 

No such thing as bad press

Johnson called the stunt "interesting publicity," but said there's no such thing as bad press.

"I know some people are probably, well, might be a little outraged and might not want the town associated with it, but take it with a grain of salt, I guess."

Fellow resident Martin Fox works at the Climax Hotel and Tavern, a business with a name that might be argued to be its own selling point. Fox said he will sometimes hear people stopping by who'll say they've heard about the town, based on its name. A web series also exists about an international spy that ends up in Climax, although only one episode was ever made.

Martin said he's not sure if the extra attention from Pornhub will do anything for Climax.

"Maybe it will help us," he said, pausing before adding, "It'd be nice if they'd pay our taxes."