CYBERSPACE—Each year since 2005, Erotic Trade Only, which is an adult trade organization that publishes a monthly newsletter aimed at adult retailers and is based in the United Kingdom, has held an award show. However, unlike previous years when the ETO Awards were presented at gala ceremonies, the 2020 ETO Awards, sponsored by top novelty manufacturer Satisfyer, were revealed on September 20 in an online broadcast—a move made necessary by the coronavirus pandemic, which forced cancellation of the originally scheduled March ETO Awards show.
According to the show's promoters, this year's online presentation was the most sparsely attended in the show's history, with just ETO’s Lee Schofield, Jacinta Williams and Kirsty Jennings opening the 26 silver envelopes and toasting the winners, though all the nominees (and any other interested parties) could follow the show in real time on ETO's social media channels.
“It was a great shame the whole industry could not get together to recognize and celebrate all the winners’ fantastic achievements,” said ETO editor Dale Bradford. “And we were particularly looking forward to presenting the individual trophies.”
The 2020 winners are as follows:
Best New Female Product
WINNER: Her Ultimate Pleasure (Pipedream)
Best New Male Product
WINNER: Man Squeeze (Doc Johnson)
Best New Couples Product
WINNER: Melt by We-Vibe
Best New Product Range
WINNER: King Cock Clear (Pipedream Products)
Best Consumable
WINNER: ID Glide
Best Fetish Products Brand
WINNER: ElectraStim
Best Pleasure Products Brand
WINNER: Satisfyer
Best Luxury Brand
WINNER: Womanizer
Most Innovative Brand
WINNER: We-Vibe
Best Sexual Health Brand
WINNER: Durex
Best Consumable Brand
WINNER: ID Lubricants
Best Lingerie Brand
WINNER: Leg Avenue
Best Pleasure Products Distributor
WINNER: Creative Conceptions
Best International Distributor
WINNER: Shots
Best Lingerie Distributor
WINNER: Leg Avenue
Best Retail Chain
WINNER: Clonezone
Best Individual Store
WINNER: Harmony (Oxford Street, London)
Best Online Retailer
WINNER: Lovehoney
Best Sexual Health Ambassador
WINNER: Alix Fox (journalist, broadcaster, and sex educator)
Best Brand Ambassador
WINNER: Kate Egan (Lovehoney)
Best Industry Ambassador
WINNER: Jane Bowles (Creative Conceptions)
Best Store Manager
WINNER: Sue Judge (Saints & Sinners, Blackpool)
Best Sales Team
WINNER: Lovehoney
Excellence in Sustainability
WINNER: Blush Novelties
Excellence in Packaging & Branding
WINNER: Fun Factory
Grand Prix Award for Excellence
WINNER: Doxy
“On behalf of everyone at ETO, I would like to congratulate not just all of this year’s winners but also all the nominated finalists," said Bradford. "We all operate in a crowded marketplace so just to make the shortlist is quite an accomplishment, especially as it is the readers of ETO who choose the finalists. Special congratulations must go to Doxy, however, which found itself in arguably the most prestigious category—Grand Prix Award for Excellence—with some of the biggest names in the global industry, and yet it still won. That’s a hell of an achievement and a ringing endorsement for the Doxy team, the company itself, and its products.”
With no one able to receive an award in person, couriers will be dispatched with the trophies to all the corporate winners, including Blush Novelties, Clonezone, Creative Conceptions, Doc Johnson, Durex, ElectraStim, Fun Factory, Harmony, ID Lubricants, Leg Avenue, Lovehoney, Pipedream, Saints & Sinners, Satisfyer, Shots and WOW Tech (for We-Vibe and Womanizer).
