Not For Sale in Texas: The New Trojan Tri-Phoria

The adorable commercial for Trojan Tri-Phoria

Trojan has a new vibrator, ladies! The Trojan "Tri-Phoria" has Multiple speeds! Three interchangeable tips! and FIVE vibration patterns! ZOMG! Anyone who's ever walked into a sex toy store will recognize this as a really boring, run of the mill toy but the New York Times today reports that Trojan has received approval to show the commercial above during the day on several TV networks, including Comedy Central. This represents a shift from 2007, when Trojan's "Evolve" commercials, which were incredibly tame, were banned from several major networks.

As a Trojan alumnae, I feel some loyalty to the brand even though the condoms are last on the list of rubbers I'd actually use. When they began their cautious foray into vibrators several years ago with the Elexa Vibrating Ring (which, when they put Elexa to bed, became the Trojan Vibrating Ring), the primary purpose was to make vibrators available in general merchandise stores--like CVS, Walgreens, and, yes, Wal-Mart.

But...not in Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kansas, or Virginia. In spite of the overturn of Texas' sex toy ban in 2008, Trojan still won't make its vibrators available for sale in the state. The other states I get, since their bans are still on the books, but Texas really did overturn the ban. This makes me wonder if Trojan's legal affairs people know something we don't--perhaps that the Supreme Court will consider a sex toy ban case (and may uphold it) after all.