The Color Purple: Why Are So Many Sex Toys Purple These Days?

Posted at 2:17 PM Jun 05, 2008

"All colors have their meaning and associations, quickly conjuring ideas, emotions, and sentiments. I think this is particularly strong in terms of pink and blue, which have such deep gender associations. There is something about purple that still feels feminine, but not so much so that it is devoid of any masculinity. It is a playful color, but not as childlike as the primary colors. It can be fun, but by using the
darker purple, which seems to be the majority of the toys, it seems fun, sophisticated, and highend."
--Sarah Jacobs, curator of the Museum of Sex exhibition "Sex in Design/Design in Sex"

"Purple is a sexy yet neutral color. It's not gender specific, like blue or pink often are (even though they shouldn't be either).

Plus there's something sexy about purple. It feels like a passionate color, as much as a color "feels." I think of that store too, which reaffirms the passionate associations that purple may have for some people."
--Jamye Waxman, author of Getting Off: A Woman's Guide to Masturbation and host of Personal Touch sex ed video series

"The original sex toys were flesh colored, and marketed to men, to buy for women. Toy makers eventually realized that women, who like their accessories to come in attractive and fun colors, were more likely to respond positively to the gift of a sex toy if it was a color other than 'flesh'. So 'pink' became the color for years. As more women became direct consumers of vibrators (ie, they shop themselves in places like Babeland), they were able to demand even more colors and styles, so purple, along with other colors (I've seen the whole range of pastels, jewel-tones, and leopard patterns over the years), was introduced. Today, pink and purple outsell the other colors by a margin of almost two to one, so those are the colors you see the most of!"
--Anne Semans, marketing director of Babeland

"The We-Vibe colour represents passion, royalty and longevity. The true We-vibe colour purple was chosen because of its purity."
--Bruce Murison, president and inventor of the We-Vibe

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