Lovehoney Encourages Consenting Adults to Turn off Safe Search to Find Sex Positive Content

Sexual wellbeing brand Lovehoney has launched a new campaign created by McCann Birmingham to help consenting adults turn off SafeSearch and find sex-positive content and products.

The OOH ‘ogle’ campaign created by McCann Birmingham features a creative billboard design and encourages consenting over-18s to turn off SafeSearch to discover the full Lovehoney range. Many search engine users are unaware that it is switched on and it’s preventing them from accessing a wealth of sexual wellbeing content online. 

Recent changes to SafeSearch mean an estimated 700,000 consumers have been prevented from finding Lovehoney in just two months of 2021, and over 600 complaints to search engines have been made by the company. Lovehoney hopes the campaign might finally open a two-way conversation with the leading search engine.

Johanna Rief, head of sexual empowerment at Lovehoney Group, said: “Although we are fully in support of the SafeSearch feature for under 18s, there seems to be some clear inconsistencies that are ultimately harming sex-positive companies and the consenting adults that are trying to find information on the topic. Unfortunately, it is just another example of Big Tech treating sexuality as something that is sinful, while allowing other harmful content to slip through the net.”

Adam Bodfish, executive creative director at McCann Birmingham, said: “This campaign tackles an issue that is having a real impact on brands like Lovehoney. Finding a way to grab the attention of Big Tech for a sexual wellness brand and hitting the right tone was a creative challenge that the McCann Birmingham team embraced fully.”