Lovehoney's '50 Shades' Products Up for Merchandising Award

BATH, England—UK sex toy firm Lovehoney has been nominated for a licensing award at the 2015 LIMA Awards for its "Fifty Shades of Grey The Official Pleasure Collection" line. The International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association has nominated the line for its 'Best Film, Television, or Entertainment Live Action Licensee - Hard Goods' award. Other nominees incude Hasbro's "Star Wars Inquisitor Lightsaber" and JAKKS Pacific’s "Maleficent" product line. Lovehoney co-owner Neal Slateford said, “These awards are genuinely the Oscars of licensing and it's brilliant to be nominated. It's a real sign that Lovehoney is making yet more inroads to the mainstream. I think I can say with some certainty that this is the first time a flogger has been in competition with a lightsaber.” Lovehoney secured the exclusive worldwide license to design, manufacture and sell Fifty Shades of Grey sex toys, bondage items and pharmacy products approved by author E.L. James in 2012. In 2014, Lovehoney said, it sold one million units of the Fifty Shades of Grey Official Pleasure Collection. The collection won Best Crossover Brand at last year’s Erotic Trade Only Awards. The 2015 LIMA Awards will take place in Las Vegas on June 9.