francis created the girls gone wild franchise in 1997 when he began using direct-response marketing, such as infomercials, to sell videos that he had produced. the videos were of college-aged women who willingly exposed their bodies or acted wildly on camera. in its first two years, girls gone wild made more than $20 million. by 2002, francis had produced 83 different girls gone wild titles and was airing 30-minute infomercials on all major u.s. networks.