An advert for Mark Hill Hair’s new styling wand, which aims to tackle the taboos of self-love, has been pulled after members of the public mistook the hair tool for a sex toy.
Following the launch of its “the bigger, the better” campaign to showcase the brand’s new jumbo waver styling tool, Mark Hill Hair was also flooded with comments on social media about the similarities its product shares with sex toys. In response, the brand has restricted its social media channels and issued a “public service announcement” to avoid confusion.
Gemma Montgomery-Dickens, marketing director at Mark Hill Hair, said: “While we want to be provocative and push the boundaries, we want to make it totally clear – this is not a sex toy. The bigger, the better is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the size of the curls you can create with the styling wand. There’s no need for our hot hair tools to make you hot under the collar, or even hot below the belt.
“Our research shows that two-thirds (64 per cent) of people have mistaken a styling wand for an erotic aid, when in fact it’s just their imagination at play.”
Almost as if Mark Hill Hair was already prepared for the commotion, the brand has teamed up with inclusive sex education charity, Fumble, on its mission to tackle taboos that stem from a lack of sex education and knowledge.
Lucy Whitehouse, CEO & founder at Fumble, said: “Sex education is about so much more than sex itself. It’s about looking after our health, including our mental health. It’s about normalising conversations about boundaries, recognising healthy/unhealthy behaviours in relationships, and understanding consent. It’s about building the self-esteem to counter toxic body image pressures, and so much more.
Montgomery-Dickens added: “Together we will turn taboos into talking points and create a place for open discussions on what really puts us at the top of our game.”
Fumble and Mark Hill Hair have also created some educational content on the topic of sex toys and masturbation together, including answering a series of frequently asked questions, and detailing the dangers of using household items as sex toys, as well as a blog post on “why there’s no shame in owning a sex toy.”
In another uncanny stroke of good fortune, Mark Hill Hair has also been out on the streets of London and Nottingham, the brand’s hometown, with Chloe Burrows of Love Island and Celebs Go Dating fame. Burrows was armed with a pink megaphone and Europe’s largest digital ad van to remind people that “this is not a sex toy” and debut an OOH advertising campaign on billboards and buses.
By way of a third, doubtless also entirely coincidental, piece of information, Manchester’s PR Agency One landed the Mark Hill brief last month charged with “launching distinctive and noteworthy campaigns…and driving media coverage in top-tier national, broadcast and trade press.”
Mark Hill Hair launched the 32mm jumbo waver in response to customer demand for its original textured waver barrel, which enables customers to achieve salon-quality, textured beach waves at home. It has also released a series of how-to tutorials on its Instagram and TikTok channels to help customers get the salon look at home.
