You know Netflix’s famous tagline “Netflix and chill?” It has a whole new ring to it after a study conducted by a UK sex toy review website.
According to Daily Sex Toys, online interest for dildos and similar sex toys shot up by 87% since the October release of Netflix’s Sex, Love & Goop, hosted by Gwyneth Paltrow.
It’s not the first time the Goop phenomenon has had such wide-reaching influence. In the world of pop culture, Paltrow’s pseudo-science hot takes has made her a sex guru of sorts.
It’s also probably the reason why she managed to bag two Netflix deals, the most recent being Sex, Love, and Goop.
With Paltrow heading up a cast of experts, the docu-series gives an intimate glimpse of courageous couples’ journeys towards more pleasurable sex and deeper intimacy.
Pleasure aids have steadily grown in popularity over the last decade and adults of all ages are taking part in spicing up their love lives, along with personal pleasure moments, said Daily Sex Toys.
Paltrow has never shied away from brutal honesty when it comes to her sex life and in the candid series, she has opened up to encourage the public to embrace their sexual pleasures and make the most of their bedroom – one of them being sex toys.
“It’s great to see that people are starting to become more adventurous in the bedroom,” said Courtney Johnson, senior editor at Daily Sex Toys.
“We’re seeing more people having conversations around what they like in the bedroom, and the show has certainly been a catalyst for that.”
But we can’t give Paltrow all the credit for invigorating adult toy sales. The pandemic and subsequent lockdown may have played a big part as well.
While speaking to the Weekend Argus, Sari Cohen, owner of Allure Sensuality Emporium said when restrictions were lifted, she was inundated with requests.
“I think in general we saw a positive approach and more curiosity toward sex toys and understanding of pleasure and sexual needs,” she said.
Berlin manufacturers WOW saw their global sales trebling over the past year, thanks to shifting more than four million pieces of their popular “Womaniser” toy.
Sweden’s Lelo said their sex toy sales were up 10% last year, despite stores being closed.
The global market is set to almost double from $28.6 billion (R431bn) to $52.7bn between 2019 and 2026, according to a report by Statista.
"Western societies have reached an era in which sexual well-being is totally normal. Buying a sex toy is no longer taboo at all, quite the contrary," Christophe Manceau of market researchers Kantar told AFP.
Here’s an interesting titbit to digest – a 2017 report on the global sex toy industry released by the Statistic Brain Research Institute showed that South Africa had the third-highest number of Google searches for sex toys in the world.
The top five most popular items bought online were, in order, vibrators, rubber penises, lubrication, anal beads and penis rings.