LELO Gasm: Not A Joke Anymore
There were a number of great April Fool’s Jokes this year – Google announced that they had found an ancient pirate treasure map and were making it available to the world via an updated Google Maps option. Mumsnet offered an intensive one-day only Vajazzling course. And sex toy manufacturer LELO announced that they were launching an entirely eco-friendly sex toy made from recycled car tyres and wood pulp.
Only, that last one wasn’t quite “the joke” that luxury toy manufacturers LELO had expected.
In fact, it had the opposite effect. The media went wild with anticipation and excitement. Bloggers exploded with positive media, and it hit the newspapers everywhere. Dildesign, a blog dedicated the marriage of good sex and great design, gushed about the eco-friendly toy:
“I am super excited about this new eco-friendly toy from Lelo. The Gäsm hits on all the points I love in product design. […] Not only that, but it appeals to my creative side too. The Gäsm comes in 8-pieces that you assemble yourself. I don’t know about you but I love building things, and this is a great way to create an even stronger bond to the toy while saving on labor cost.”
The attributes which LELO had fabricated as a joke had become hot selling points. It seems that the public at large actually want recycled, eco-friendly vibrators. And they want them now.
It wasn’t only bloggers and the media who had whet their appetite. “Even our internal sales team fell for it, which was interesting,” said LELO’s global head of marketing Steve Thompson.
He also added that recycled wood pulp and car tyres are probably not the best choice to use for sex toys, but that LELO was seriously considering a recycled silicon alternative. This gizmo might actually hit the shelves by 2014, as the company confirms that a hand-crank rotary power system, a low cost packaging and assembly-required construction is 100% achievable … and their product design team is currently working on a new line that will embrace all of these features and more.