Fifty Shades of Grey Sends Ben-Wa Balls Sales Skyrocketing
Say what you will about the book Fifty Shades of Grey– that it’s housewife porn, that the only thing worse than fanfic is Twilight fanfic and the only thing even worse than that is Twilight fanfic you actually have to pay for- but one industry is pretty grateful at the erotic trilogy’s viral success.
Sex toy makers have been seeing a spike in business since women began reading about a “Christian Grey-flavored popsicle” in droves, and sales of ben-wa balls in particular have been way, way up since the novels caught on across America. (For the uninitiated, ben-wa balls are reverberating insertion toys that, without a string, can get kind of lost and all the yoga, coughing and pogo-sticking in the world will not dislodge them. Or so I have read.)
In the novels, male lead Christian Grey uses the balls on his slave Anastasia, the novel’s young heroine. According to TMZ, the act is certainly responsible for a ben-wa craze among curious readers:
The rep writes, “Thanks to the book, we are getting emails and calls from around the world asking about our Smart Balls … Yesterday, the Fun Factory office received an email from a 74-year-old woman in Dubai who read the book while vacationing in the USA.”
No word if other makers of ben wa balls are seeing a Fifty Shades of Gray bump.
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About the Author
Kim LaCapria Kim LaCapria is a writer and editor based in New York. A longtime information junkie, she began blogging full-time at the Inquisitr in 2009. Prior to that, she worked as a marketing assistant in the cosmetics and skincare industry. In addition to her writing for fortytwotimes, she also writes for Medacity and The Inquisitr. Kim is also a contributor for SocialNewsDaily, Indyposted, and TotallyMoney. In the past, she contributed to Lipstick and Luxury and managed social media accounts and blogs for several small and mid-sized businesses.
