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Mayor Bloomberg Prematurely Ejects Vibrator Promo

Mayor Bloomberg Prematurely Ejects Vibrator Promo

August 9th, 2012 Joseph Pedro

Some were lucky enough to score the free vibrators before the city stop the giveaway.

Alongside those free hummus and Yoo-Hoo! peddlers, Trojan condom company wanted to get in on the street giveaway bandwagon by handing out free vibrators, but city officials pulled the plug before the promotion could reach a climax. As crowds gathered (up to 300 women and men) at some of the locations, Trojan began handing out the tantalizing toy, but soon after a dark-suited man arrived and the promotions were quickly shutdown. The Mayor’s Office insisted the vibrator bust was a permit issue, and not due to any prudishness. “This activity promoting Trojan products, which impeded pedestrian and street traffic, did not have a permit,” City Hall said in a written statement. “The production company affiliated with the event is currently in discussions with the Mayor’s Office to hold a promotional event with proper permits at a later date.” Hmmm… when we wait anxiously inline for our free SABA Hummus and Sun Chips City Hall doesn’t seem to mind. The action caused a stir among the women who directed their anger toward the Mayor who has been seen in recent months as more of a Nanny than a leader. Recently his administration has come under fire for banning smoking in public parks, trying to ban large soft drinks, and installing a CCTV-like system. “I’m 57 years old. I should be able to get a vibrator!” declared Linda Postell, who was among hundreds waiting for the sex toy. “I have a problem with the smoking ban, and the soda ban—and now this!”

Trojan is currently working with City Hall to create a permitted event throughout New York City.

A Surprise in a Hot Dog Cart

By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN

Published: August 6, 2012

IT’S common in New York to see teams of college-age students handing out samples of goods like fruit juice and dog food. Even seen-everything New Yorkers may do a double-take this week, however, when they encounter street teams with hot dog carts stocked with vibrators.

In Manhattan, Trojan Vibrations will hand out 10,000 vibrators from two hot dog carts identified as pleasure carts.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Trojan Vibrations, a line of sexual enhancement devices, will hand out 10,000 free vibrators from two hot dog carts identified as pleasure carts. Along with the brand’s logo, the carts will feature sayings like “Getcha vibes here!” and “Relish the moment.”

Trojan plans to distribute 5,000 each of the Tri-Phoria device, which retails for $40, and the Pulse, which retails for $30, for a total retail value of $350,000. It goes without saying, surely, but Trojan asserts this is the biggest handout of vibrators ever.

The promotion begins Wednesday morning with a live commercial by Howard Stern on his show on Sirius XM Radio. The carts will roam Manhattan for two days, with their locations updated on the Trojan Vibrations Facebook page.

In what Bruce Weiss, vice president for marketing at Trojan, called “almost like a gateway product,” Trojan introduced a vibrating ring in 2005 that was included in some packages of condoms for an “improved condom experience.”

The brand began selling a small vibrator, the Mini, in 2009, and the larger Tri-Phoria in 2010. The strategy throughout for Trojan, a Church & Dwight brand, has been to challenge the stigmas associated with the products.

The company has advertised aggressively, even during prime time on some cable networks. In 2011, Trojan spent $10.5 million advertising its Vibrations line, according to the Kantar Media unit of WPP.

Today, the Trojan devices are carried in retailers that were not on the radar for sex-toy shoppers a decade ago, including Walmart, Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid.

So new are the devices to mainstream retailers that growth in that channel has been phenomenal. In the 52 weeks that ended July 8, revenue for sexual enhancement devices sold in drugstores and mass retailers grew 23.2 percent over the year before, to $16.1 million, according to the Symphony IRI Group, whose totals do not include Walmart. Trojan, which accounts for 66.2 percent of the category at such retailers, grew even more over the year, by 40.2 percent.

According to studies financed by Trojan and published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 52.5 percent of women and 44.8 percent of men have used vibrators. Contrary to perceptions that they are used nearly exclusively by the unaccompanied, 40.9 percent of women and 40.5 percent of men report having used them with sexual partners.

“What we’re doing is taking something like a hot dog cart that is so everyday and so mainstream,” Mr. Weiss said, “and we’re showing people that vibrators are mainstream.”

Two commercials for the newest Trojan Vibrations product, Twister, which retails for $60, promote it as a spark for couples. One begins with a woman on the telephone with a friend.

“All I did was mention it might be a Trojan Twister night and things totally changed,” she says, as her husband passes by first with a load of folded laundry, and then with an iron and ironing board.

“Come on, lazybones, shoe sale today,” he says at one point. Later, he pats the couch beside him with one hand, the remote in the other. “Big game?” he says. “Heck no, let’s watch ‘Desperate Bride Makeovers.’ ”

The campaign is by Colangelo Synergy Marketing in Darien, Conn., part of the Omnicom Group.

Carol Queen, curator of the Antique Vibrator Museum and a staff sexologist for Good Vibrations, a sexual products retailer founded in 1977, credits the new Trojan ads with “pretty seamlessly integrating men into the campaign.”

As both a sales strategy and to more accurately reflect how the devices are used, “a company needs to overcome this notion that vibrators are problematic for couples because men don’t like women to use them,” Ms. Queen said.

Rather than seeing the growing availability of the devices at mass retailers as a threat to specialty retailers like Good Vibrations, Ms. Queen said, “what’s fabulous about the way that Trojan has entered the marketplace is that a rising tide lifts all boats.”

Some consumers who buy their first device as an impulse buy at a mass retailer are apt to eventually be drawn to boutiques like Good Vibrations, which along with Trojan devices has a wide selection of other brands — and knowledgeable staff members.

“Going to a sexuality store like Good Vibrations or many others, you have trained people who can answer your questions and help you choose,” Ms. Queen said. “What most customers are probably not doing is getting the greeter at Walmart to come with them to the vibrator aisle and asking them, ‘Which one should I get?’ ”

Claire Cavanah, co-owner of Babeland, a sexual products shop with locations in Seattle and New York, lauded the plan by Trojan to distribute free devices.

“It sounds fantastic and I’m just delighted that there is a company that has the resources and the sex-positivity to do it,” Ms. Cavanah said.

At the annual BlogHer conference that began Aug. 2, Trojan Vibrations gave out 4,000 devices, meaning that the brand is on pace to give away more than 14,000 of the products in August, with a total retail value of $540,000. Mr. Weiss, of Trojan, said the brand gave out a few hundred of the devices from trucks around New York last summer, and wanted to have more impact this year.

“People were clamoring for the vibrators, and we thought that by giving out more vibrators, it would have more buzz, so to speak,” Mr. Weiss said.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: August 6, 2012

An earlier version of this article misstated the dates for the giveaway campaign. It will run on Wednesday and Thursday, not Thursday and Friday.

Free Vibrator Giveaway Cock-Blocked By Mayor's Office

Free Vibrator Giveaway Cock-Blocked By Mayor's Office

The hotly anticipated Trojan vibrator handout went terribly wrong in the Flatiron District today, where eager beavers stood on a line that stretched around the block waiting for their free Pulse toys. Minutes after the giveaway started, the publicity stunt experienced interruptus for reasons that remain opaque. A tipster who was waiting for her vibrator tells us that shortly after 4 p.m. a representative armed with a clipboard marched along the line ejaculating, "The Mayor's Office is closing us down!"

The Mayor's spokesmen have not yet responded to our probing questions about the Trojan rep's allegation, but another reporter on the scene says it was "shut down on 23rd Street due to a parking violation." Our tipster, who asked to remain anonymous because she doesn't want the whole world to know she was waiting on line for a free sex toy when she was supposed to be working at her desk, tells us that a few people on the front of the line did receive vibrators, but then the giveaway ended and the truck pulled away to loud booing.

We'll update once we get to the bottom of this, but this certainly doesn't bode well for the free vibrator handouts scheduled for tomorrow in Union Square, Murray Hill, SoHo, and the Meatpacking District.

Update 6:17 p.m.: A spokesperson for the mayor's office has issued this statement: "All commercial promotional activity taking place in the street needs a street activity permit. This activity promoting Trojan products, which impeded pedestrian and street traffic, did not have a permit. The production company affiliated with the event is currently in discussions with the Mayors Office to hold a promotional event with proper permits at a later date." We're trying to find out what this means for tomorrow's giveaway, and we'll update when we know more.

City Shuts Down Trojan's Free Vibrator Cart Near The Flatiron Building

City Shuts Down Trojan's Free Vibrator Cart Near The Flatiron Building

Shlomo Sprung | Aug. 8, 2012, 5:40 PM

What was supposed to be a pleasurable experience for thousands turned into a large mess near the Flatiron building Wednesday afternoon as a Trojan vibrator giveaway was shut down by city officials because of an apparent permit issue.

This was supposed to be the hot dog stand Trojan was going to use to give away the free vibrators, which retail for roughly $40. Hundreds turned up for the giveaway but went home empty-handed.

When we got there, the line spanned an entire block, from 22nd to 23rd Street along 5th Avenue. It took quite a long time for the hundreds waiting on line, men and women alike, to figure out what was really going on.

Three ladies from Brooklyn, who were a bit shy to give out their names because of the sensitive nature of the giveaway, told us they had waited more than 20 minutes for Trojan to tell them they weren't going to get their vibrators. "It's a great idea," said one, "they should just find a way to do it legally." Her friend, who was also disappointed said "they're not a startup, they should have probably figured that out."

Trojan workers eventually rolled the hot dog stand back into a large Ryder moving truck and eventually drove away in this tinted black SUV.

Dan Bracken, Trojan's director of marketing services, said the promotion was officially shut down about 15 minutes after it was slated to begin because "there was confusion with the permit."

"Everything was in place, but I'm a bit sketchy with the details myself," he said.

Bracken said they wanted to give the vibrators away out of the moving truck, but officials said that it would be a safety issue, likely because people would start mobbing the employees in search of a free sex toy.

But ultimately, many who waited in line will get a free vibrator and have their happy ending. Trojan staffers were taking down email addresses so they could send those who waited around with their free swag.

And several other giveaways were planned for the NYC area, including in the Financial District, the Meatpacking District, and the East Village according to Trojan's Facebook page. But check in before you go, unless you want to be left high and dry like hundreds of others were today.