Former ETO editor Dale Bradford has written a new book, called From Sex Shops To Supermarkets: How Adult Toys Became A Multi-Billion-Pound Industry, which chronicles how the sex toy sector has evolved in the 21st century.
Encompassing elements of business, social history, and popular culture, the book is peppered with exclusive interviews and unique insights.
It explains how Lovehoney used clever PR to build its business and reveals the strategies behind some of its most successful campaigns. It also features many of the industry’s milestone moments, including the consumer electronics giant that launched its own sex toy, the private prosecution that could have threatened the Ann Summers business model, and the great jiggle ball shortage of 2012.
“With almost every major UK supermarket now devoting shelf space to adult toys, a casual observer might wonder how we arrived at this point,” said Bradford, who was editor of ETO from the first issue in 2003 until the last in 2022.
“It’s been a fascinating journey, and thanks to my job, I had a seat up front with the driver. Actually, make that drivers, because there was more than one of them, and in the book I explain the part they all played and demonstrate how they fed off each other. I think it’s a fascinating story and a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in the sex toys sector – though I may not be the most impartial judge.”
The book starts with Ann Summers, moves through online retail, and the enormous role PR played when many conventional advertising channels were closed to sex toy suppliers, and it namechecks the mainstream television shows, movies, and celebrities who have embraced the sector over the last two decades. There are also sections on retail, events, Fifty Shades Fever, the importance of bloggers, and, of course, sex toys.
From Sex Shops To Supermarkets: How Adult Toys Became A Multi-Billion-Pound Industry is available now in paperback (£9.99) and ebook (£4.99) formats from Amazon platforms worldwide.
Book reviewers who would like a sample should contact [email protected]
