LOS ANGELES—For most of the last half of the 20th century, on most college campuses (USC excluded, for obvious reasons) the name "Trojan" was pretty much synonymous with "condom," since in the early days, Trojan was just about the only company making condoms for sale to the public. (See Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965.) But times change, and now Trojan has released the Trojan Tantrix, a masturbation aid—and yet, the company doesn't seem to have figured out how to market it.
First of all, what is the Trojan Tantrix? Well, according to the company, it's "a soft hand held pleasure sheet with textured ridges for a natural feel" that "fits comfortably in your hand for full range of motion to aid masturbation." Now, most guys simply lube up the palm of one hand and wrap it around their dick, with the ridges in the palm providing enough texture and friction to get the guy off. Those with a bit more savvy (and cash) use a Fleshlight or something similar, often modeled after a porn star's pussy or ass, to do the deed, so Trojan's Tantrix falls somewhere between those two methods, with the company claiming that the product is "designed to enhance the sensation of masturbation so you can do less but feel more."
It's not a bad idea, and plenty of guys will probably buy one—if they can find it. One might think that if Trojan were going to roll out a new product, it'd have a few of them already in the warehouse to fill the hundreds (if not thousands) of orders that were likely to be placed soon after the product was announced. So why, then, has Amazon already run out of the Tantrix, what with Trojan having just let the public know of its availability on its Twitter feed on October 5 and 6—and hasn't mentioned one word of it on Twitter since. A couple of websites have suggested going to Walmart.com to purchase one, but the Walmart stores are running out of them pretty quickly as well, but perhaps some of the major drug store chains have managed to snag a few; who knows?
The Tantrix was released at about the same time as Trojan's new Willa Collection, a range aimed at women that includes either a smooth or ribbed condom for those wishing to avoid skin contact with a sex toy, unscented water-based lube that's infused with aloe and vitamin E, and a Willa Collection Precision Tip Vibrator that's made of soft silicone and offers three vibration speeds—all in one box.
The Tantrix sells for about $6, as does the basic Willa Collection condom kit, though with the lube and vibe, the price goes up to about $26—again, if they can be found.
Say, maybe some enterprising adult retailer or distributor will be able to lay in some stock—once Trojan gets its act in gear.
