Cult fave Aussie sex toy brand, NORMAL is cheekily bypassing outdated regulations on sexual wellness products.
NORMAL has had a busy and exciting year. Back in November, the beloved Aussie sex toy company blanketed our streets with some very cheeky posters and trucks to spread the word about their (frankly, incredible) Black Friday sale.
“We’d encourage folks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to keep their eyes peeled for more fun surprises over the next few days (and nights) as we spread the word on our mobile billboards,” said founder, Lucy Wark.
But why the need for cheeky innuendos and stealth advertising? Well, as it turns out, Australian advertisers have some pretty outdated regulations and policies on sexual wellness products. For example, most traditional advertisers (plus platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok) won’t allow brands to say ‘sex toy’, or show a sex toy in an ad – even though a majority of Australian adults have used one.
Last year, NORMAL tackled this topic head-on, with their This Is Normal campaign, calling out double standards around sexual wellness and urging advertisers to update their attitudes toward the space.
And this year, they went one step further – finding the perfect loopholes in Australia’s advertising landscape to make sure we all have access to the information we need!
Founder, Lucy Wark said, “we’ve been told by advertisers that we can’t say the word ‘vibrator’ or show one on a poster: so instead, we’re just covering Australian cities in posters about how our ‘vbriators are on sale’ and blurring out an object that could possibly be our bestselling vibe Quinn on the image…”
Wark continued, “These regulations are falling behind contemporary community values, in our view, but while they’re still in place, we’re definitely going to have some fun with them! And we’d encourage folks in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to keep their eyes peeled for more fun surprises over the next few days (and nights) as we spread the word on our mobile billboards.”
“Every complaint we’ve ever had about our advertising has actually been dismissed, because we are very careful to think about context and messaging when we run a campaign. That includes our famous TV ad featuring the c-word (clitoris), which got 69 complaints (all dismissed) last year!”
“But despite that track record, we face a lot of roadblocks from advertisers every time we run a campaign: even these posters were initially blocked by the advertising company, until we asked them to actually identify where or how they violated the standards, and they couldn’t. It’s easy to have a knee-jerk reaction when you’re not used to seeing these products advertised, but we’d encourage everyone to bring a bit of nuance and care to how they think about what is appropriate.”
Check out NORMAL’s inhouse sex coach, Georgia Grace celebrating the epic Black Friday campaign via Instagram below:
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NORMAL’s founder, Lucy Wark, said “we started NORMAL because we struggled to find the sex education we needed to explore good sex properly, and shopping for sex toys in person felt like walking into a cross between Chemist Warehouse and Pornhub.”
“We wanted to create a place where it felt easy and normal to buy beautiful products you trust, and to get expert education on everything from sexual health to pleasure, libido and how to use a toy! So our amazing sex coach Georgia Grace created easy explainer videos for every toy in the range on our website, along with a personalised recommendation quiz to help you choose the right product.”
Sex toys can be a big investment, but thanks to NORMAL’s 100-night trial, you can grab a store credit or try another toy on them if you don’t end up loving your first choice (the team will even give you a personal recommendation).
And if you’re looking to take it to the next level, try pairing it with our free video masterclass, The Modern Guide to Sex (where our sex coach Georgia covers the fundamentals of good sex we all missed in school over 16 video episodes).
NORMAL are all about making you feel good about, well, feeling good! Every order comes in an unmarked, compostable mailer bag (so you can relax and enjoy the main event). Plus, their packaging is designed for sustainability – with a cute reversible canvas collection bag (for all of your essentials), stored in a gorgeous reusable tube (we love these for holding pens & pencils!)
What’s even better? NORMAL is an industry leader in LGBTQ+ inclusion, with all of their products described using anatomy (not assuming their users are straight or cisgendered), loads of free inclusive sex education on their website, and a portion of every sale supporting LGBTQ+ charity Minus18.
And if you’re still not sure, let’s seal the deal for you: They’re also Australia’s top-rated sexual wellness brand, according to Trustpilot, with an average rating of 4.7 stars, and over 25,000 very satisfied customers!
So, what are you waiting for? Check out NORMAL’s top-rated sex toys at incredible prices here.
