Sex Toy Ads Will Be Allowed On NYC Subways, MTA Says After Outcry

NEW YORK, NY — An online sex toy retailer will join the ranks of New York City subway advertisers despite some resistance from the MTA. The transportation authority said it will allow the sexual wellness company Unbound to post subway ads after rejecting a campaign that depicted its erotic products.

"The MTA has always and will continue to ensure that our policies are applied evenly and fairly," MTA spokesman Jon Weinstein said in a statement. "We’re going to direct our advertising partner to work with the company toward a resolution that is agreeable to all parties and allows their ads on the system."

Unbound is a New York City-born firm that sells sex toys and other sexual health products on its website and through a quarterly subscription service.

The company commissioned five artists to create its first subway ads. They include colorful scenes depicting women with sex toys, accessories and lingerie, along with everyday items like flowers, house plants, a bathtub and a telephone.

The ads were rejected after Unbound submitted them last week because they contained "sexually offensive material," according to an email the company sent to supporters on Thursday. The advertising company Outfront Media manages subway ads for the MTA.

The MTA's six-page advertising policy bars ads that show "sexual or excretory activities" or anything that would amount to a "public display of offensive sexual material," along with other objectionable content.

But the policy hasn't stopped ads for the Museum of Sex, breast implants and Roman, a company that sells erectile dysfunction pills, from popping up in the subways.

Unbound started a social media campaign with the hashtag #WTFMTA to protest the MTA's decision. The artists — Kristen Liu Wong, Laura Callaghan, Loveis Wise, Robin Eisenberg and Yoko Honda — joined in, condeming the move on their Instagram pages.

"Can you believe a beautiful campaign created to show sex positivity and self love without being overtly sexual I might add, got rejected IN 2018 for 'sexually obscene material' but a campaign about mens erectile dysfunction can still be placed in the subway or any public spaces?" Wise wrote Wednesday.

Unbound said the MTA has asked the company to "meet them halfway" on changes to the ads. The company says it's open to changing the artwork but doesn't want to "water it down."

"Bottom line, changing the art is a band aid," Unbound said in a Twitter post Friday. "The issue is the MTA policy, the lack of a transparent appeals process, and the fact that companies like ours need to launch grassroots campaigns to be heard at all."

(Lead image: Photo by Stuart Monk/Shutterstock)