Philips wants to put the fun back in foreplayPhilips, the Dutch manufacturer of toothbrushes and hairdryers, thinks our sex lives are boring and have decided to come to the rescue of ailing couples by developing his and hers sensual massagers.
That or they could have just realized that there is a huge untapped potential in the market for consumer friendly sex toys. To find out which, I of course had to say yes when Philips contacted me and asked if I wanted to try the toys out.
I have to admit. It hasn't been easy. First there was the anticipation. Will the massagers really live up to what Philips are promising? Have my sex life really been that boring before? Will the toys arrive in offensive packaging and scare my flatmates?
I also had to put up with the dreamily vacant look in my boyfriend's eyes every time I mentioned the toys. It was a long wait.
The toys finally arrived in an anonymous looking brown box, with lots of smaller boxes inside it with hazy pictures of loved up couples of them. My first impression was that the branding didn't really do anything for me.
However it's not just about the packaging as we all know. The massagers have apparently been rated as the ”most satisfying sex toy for couples” (Ever? This year?). Unfortunately the font stating who actually rated the toy is too small to read. Not to worry though, at least someone's rated it.
According to Philips their sensual massagers will help couples ”explore and stimulate each other in new ways that add an extra dimension of intimacy and excitement to your sex life”. It does sound pretty promising doesn't it.
The toys are designed to fit the male and female body. The female one looks like your bog-standard vibrator. And what you see is what you get. The vibrator does do its trick, which means it's competing with tons of similar toys out there.
What Philips are offering, though, is a his and hers experience. The male vibrator is built differently, to ”suit the male body” and it's here that the sensual massagers actually become interesting. There aren't many male vibrators out there, but by judging by the fun it can be to use them, there definitely should be more of them.
Philips seem to have realized that there is an untapped market for sex toys-light out there. Playthings that you can pick up in Marks & Spencer on a boring Friday evening when you're shopping for that ready-made meal for two and reduced wine. Putting the dual sensual massagers in your cart is almost socially acceptable, especially because of the soft-core packaging.
I'll try to not judge the target audience, but I wonder who'd want to spend about £100 on a sex toy that's trying to not really be a sex toy.
The sensual massagers are fun though and I wouldn't exactly call using them a chore. However, couples who're looking to spice up their sex lives would do much better visiting Coco de Mer than picking up the Philips massagers next to the hair-straighteners in the local supermarket. Although saying that, I'm sure that the massagers will sell well.
Philips have developed an accessible toy and that is definitely a big plus for a market that's still a bit shy when it comes to toys.