LONDON—The Official Fifty Shades of Grey Pleasure Collection has enjoyed a mainstream media blitz unprecedented for the adult industry. The range, manufactured by Lovehoney and personally approved by E L James, has been featured repeatedly in leading U.S. media outlets on TV, online and in print.
With the movie dominating the U.S. box office with a record-breaking opening weekend, the official Fifty Shades of Grey products are in demand nationwide. NBC's Access Hollywood Live featured the range in a 2-minute "Fifty Shades for Rookies" segment telling viewers how to give their Valentine's date night a "Fifty Shades of Pleasure" make-over, while CBS's Insider explored how couples could recreate what they see on screen in Christian Grey's Red Room using the Official Pleasure Collection.
CNBC's "Fifty Shades of Green" report revealed how retailers were preparing to cash in on the release of the Fifty Shades of Grey movie by selling the officially licensed products.
Meanwhile, HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver took a sideways look at the phenomenon and featured the Fifty Shades of Grey Official Pleasure Collection You. Are. Mine. metal handcuffs. After broadcast on HBO, the clip has subsequently been viewed 1.5 million times on YouTube.
Lovehoney co-founder Richard Longhurst said, "The coverage that The Official Pleasure Collection has received from mainstream media is phenomenal. No pleasure industry brand has ever received this level of coverage. It's the biggest name in the business."
The business press also highlighted the boost that the Official Pleasure Collection will give to adult retailers. "Purveyors of official merchandise are already experiencing a rush of demand," said Bloomberg in an article syndicated nationwide, describing Fifty Shades of Grey as "a recognizable brand for the mass population".
"Fifty Shades of Grey in sales frenzy" ran the headline in the Hollywood Reporter. "Now that the movie is arriving, merchandise numbers likely will hit new heights," the article said.
CNN Money revealed that "retailers aren't shy about cashing in on the enormous popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey" adding that the official Fifty Shades of Grey products gave retailers "no shortage of marketing opportunities".
Yahoo! Finance even had advice for consumers. "For those women (and men) who might want to recreate the fantasies portrayed in the book but aren't accustomed to shopping for the, ahem, merchandise, E L James has created a Fifty Shades of Grey line of sex toys to eliminate any awkward shopping moments," said the site.
The New York Times, Inc., Fox21News and Nasdaq.com also featured the Official Pleasure Collection.
U.S. consumer coverage was also widespread with Cosmopolitan magazine, leading women's websites YourTango and PopSugar all featuring the Official Pleasure Collection.
The last word has to go to Buzzfeed's Try Guys who used the Fifty Shades of Grey Pleasure Collection to try bondage play for the first time, as millions of couples will be doing after seeing the film. The educational and entertaining 7-minute clip has been viewed more than 5 million times on Facebook and Youtube.
Fifty Shades of Grey made $248.8m at the worldwide box office in its opening weekend making it the highest debut of 2015 and the 21st biggest opening of all time. The film opened at No. 1 in 56 of the 57 countries where it was released and in the U.S. was the biggest President's Day weekend opening in history.
As well as the hugely popular Official Pleasure Collection, Lovehoney recently launched The Official Red Room Collection, a range of 10 high-quality leather bondage items inspired by scenes from the film.
Lovehoney is credited in the Fifty Shades of Grey movie as official supplier of products seen in the Red Room.
For more information about stocking any of the Official Fifty Shades of Grey items, contact the Lovehoney Trade Sales team at [email protected].
