In NYC Subway, Ads For ED Meds Are OK, But Sex Toy Ads Are Banned

Just two months after New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority gave a thumbs-up to Dame Products, a Brooklyn-based maker of upscale sex toys, to place ads in the city’s subway stations, the MTA flip-flopped and rejected the ads anyway, stating that Dame is a "sexually oriented business," and therefore barred from advertising in the New York public transit system, according to a report by AdWeek.  The Dame ads, two of which are reproduced above on this page, portrayed several of the company's products, including (as seen above, right) the Pom, a palm-sized vibrator that the company describes as “flexible, versatile, and strong, with four new vibration patterns, and our most powerful motor yet.”  The MTA had approved the company’s ads in October, but on December 3, Dame received a letter from the MTA rescinding its approval, citing a newly published policy that “prohibits any advertisement that promotes a 'sexually oriented business,' and advertisements for sex toys or devices for any gender fall within this category.”  Dame CEO Alexandra Fine, who says her company's mission is to "make tools that help humanity evolve its relationship with sexuality," told the local news site Patch that the Dame ads fell victim to a sexist double standard, because ads promoting erectile dysfunction medications, including those from the widely advertised online pharmacies Roman Health and Hims, are frequently seen in the city’s subways. "The MTA's policy—probably not intentionally, but unintentionally—is saying that it's important for you as a human being to be able to functionally have sex and want to have sex," Fine told the Patch site. "You could be taking drugs to make you hornier. But using a vibrator ... is not an acceptable way to enjoy that sex or want to have that sex." The double standard disproportionately affects women, she said, because the sex toy industry is heavily oriented toward products used by women. Photo By DameProducts.com