Sex Toy Shops Prepare for Tie-Ins to ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

By RACHEL ABRAMSFEB. 1, 2015 - The New York Times

Labels for bath oil from Botanica Labs, one of many product tie-ins to “Fifty Shades of Grey.” Credit Emily Berl for The New York Times

When toys are made for movies, they are usually intended for children.

But with the Valentine’s Day weekend premiere of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” many of the tie-ins to the film are for adults only.

The sex toy industry is banking on the hope that the Universal Pictures film will generate soaring sales, much the way the blockbuster erotic novel of the same name created thousands of new customers from the female readers who passed the book around their suburban culs-de-sac.

In anticipation of such keen interest, mainstream retailers are stocking up on the pleasure industry’s blindfolds, whips, handcuffs and masks. Manufacturers have designed new packaging and products to fit the kinky tone and theme of the film, which is based on E. L. James’s story about a naïve young woman’s introduction to games of sexual bondage.

Even Target, one of the nation’s largest retailers, recently began selling an official “Fifty Shades of Grey” “vibrating love ring,” an item intended for wear by men, but not on the finger.

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