Lovehoney Launches Provocative ‘Not a Sex Toy’ Campaign to Challenge Advertising Censorship

This week, Lovehoney, the UK’s leading destination for sexual happiness, unveils its latest out-of-home campaign, 'Not a Sex Toy', spotlighting the everyday household objects that people in the UK turn to for sexual pleasure. Featuring items such as toothbrushes, pillows, and cucumbers - with tongue-in-cheek copy telling the public ‘You deserve better’ - the brand takes on strict advertising restrictions, whilst raising awareness of an important topic: the potential risks of stigmatising sexual pleasure.

The campaign comes a year after Lovehoney received a complaint from the ASA concerning a billboard featuring a Ball Gag, which was erected in response to Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’, to remind everyone that sometimes ‘Silence Is Golden’. Given these restrictions, the sexual wellness brand is this time using household objects as the focus of its campaign, humorously circumventing restrictions by using the most popular sex toy substitutes.

Recent research reveals that two in five (41%) people in the UK are turning to everyday household objects to get themselves off. Items that they use include pillows (14%), hairbrushes (9%), mobile phones (8%), socks (8%), and finally pop culture favourite - the electric toothbrush (7%).

Discussing the campaign, Lovehoney’s global PR lead, Nadia McCowan Hill, said, “Sexual wellness is an important part of our overall health, but all-too-often it is villainised and categorised alongside things that are explicit or harmful. Advertising restrictions also frequently hinder our ability to educate the public on the topic of sexual wellness, which prevents information from reaching those who need it. Given that we are not allowed to advertise sex toys – a key component of sexual wellness – we decided to get creative by asking the British public what they use instead. We then replicated these items on our billboards, thus creating our ‘unbannable ads.’ We’re on a mission to normalise the conversation around sexual wellness and bring sex toys into the mainstream, which we will do one cucumber at a time if we must!”

The campaign launches this week across out-of-home, press and social.

Lovehoney partnered with brand value agency Boldspace, which was responsible for the creative direction and strategy.

Speaking on the launch, Lou Kelly, head of consumer at Boldspace commented, “We’re thrilled to be launching the ‘Not A Sex Toy’ campaign with Lovehoney, in a bold way that will ensure our message gets cut through to a wider audience. Sexual health and wellness should be a conversation we are proud to address, and we are excited to help Lovehoney do so”.

To find out more about Lovehoney’s latest campaign, and to explore a range of safe, high-quality sex toys, visit here.