The worldwide media frenzy for the Fifty Shades of Grey movie has resulted in Lovehoney’s Official Fifty Shades of Grey Pleasure Collection enjoying unprecedented mainstream coverage for an adult products brand.
The UK’s most popular online news site, the Mail Online, has featured the Official Pleasure Collection in dozens of its news articles in the past month – with the range’s promotional video often being included in any article referencing Fifty Shades of Grey. The Telegraph also featured the Official Pleasure Collection in its ‘Fifty Shades Valentine’s Day Gift Guide’ describing the range as the tools “to take your erotic awakening from the page to the bedroom”. Whilst the London Evening Standard showcased the official products in its ‘Fifty Shades of Pleasure’ guide, describing them as the best toys to “let your Fifty Shades of Grey fantasies come to life”. Now Magazine told its 2.5 million readers that the items in the Official Pleasure Collection were “the best-selling sex toys in the UK since they launched”.
In the US, NBC’s Access Hollywood Live featured the range in a two-minute ‘Fifty Shades for Rookies’ segment telling viewers how to give their Valentine’s date night a ‘Fifty Shades of Pleasure’ make-over, while CBS’s The Insider explored how couples could recreate what they see on screen in Christian Grey’s Red Room using the Official Pleasure Collection.
CNBC’s ‘Fifty Shades of Green’ report revealed how retailers were preparing to cash-in on the release of the movie by selling the officially licensed products and HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver took a sideways look at the phenomenon and featured the Fifty Shades of Grey Official Pleasure Collection You. Are. Mine. Metal Handcuffs. After broadcast on HBO, the clip was subsequently viewed 1.5 million times on YouTube.
The US business press also highlighted the boost that the Official Pleasure Collection will give to adult retailers. “Purveyors of official merchandise are already experiencing a rush of demand,” said Bloomberg in an article syndicated worldwide, describing Fifty Shades of Grey as “a recognizable brand for the mass population”. “Fifty Shades of Grey in sales frenzy,” ran the headline in the Hollywood Reporter. “Now that the movie is arriving, merchandise numbers likely will hit new heights,” the article said. The New York Times, Inc., Fox21News and Nasdaq.com also featured the Official Pleasure Collection.
Europe’s most watched television channel TF1 featured a number of Official Pleasure Collection items online in its selection of Valentine’s Day essentials and even Buzzfeed got involved, using the Fifty Shades of Grey Official Pleasure Collection to try bondage play for the first time. The seven-minute clip has been viewed more than five million times on Facebook and Youtube.
Lovehoney co-founder Richard Longhurst said: “The coverage that The Official Pleasure Collection has received from mainstream media is phenomenal. No pleasure industry brand has ever received this level of coverage. It’s the biggest name in the business.”
An in-depth look at the impact of the Fifty Shades movie is included in the March issue of ETO.
