Sex toys fail to turn on fair visitors
Sex sells, but not in a downturn, if a weekend trade show in Shanghai was anything to go by.
Visitors were few and far between at the sixth annual China International Adult Toys and Reproductive Health Exhibition, which closed yesterday, and exhibitors said the market was less than turned on by their products in the economic climate.
'It's bad this year. The turnout is very low and business has been very poor,' said Mark Huang Wei, head of domestic business for Shanghai A-One Plastic Product. 'There are hardly any people here compared to the last time we exhibited two years ago.'
The three-day show, held at the Shanghai International Exhibition Centre, featured products from around 200 exhibitors, a fifth fewer than last year. Almost every adult accessory imaginable was on offer - from 'personal massage devices' to blow-up dolls and French maids' uniforms to bondage gear.
But Wang Zhiwei, 26, said he was disappointed with the variety compared to last year. 'There don't seem to be many new products,' he said.
The crowds seemed more interested in the humans on display.
A throng of camera-wielding visitors, almost all middle-aged and male, crushed around a catwalk at the back of the hall as models paraded a lingerie brand's latest range of underwear and cosplay outfits, their modesty preserved by skin-tone, thigh-length spandex shorts.
There were occasional young female visitors, holding their boyfriends' hands or browsing in groups of two or three. While their curiosity had drawn them, most seemed to feel they were breaking a taboo.
'I can't let anyone know I've been here,' one embarrassed twenty-something squealed as she dashed away at the suggestion of an interview. One 20-year-old university student, who would only give her family name Sun, said she and a classmate were sent to the show as an assignment for their business management course.
'I have never seen these sorts of products before,' she said. 'They are not like I expected at all. Many of them have a surprisingly sophisticated design. They are beautiful.'
Despite the smaller ranges and fewer visitors, it was not all economic doom and gloom.
Janet Lu Lu said she was at the show to source products because she was planning to open an adult store.
'I think there is definitely a gap in the market in Shanghai,' she said. 'There are not many respectable outlets in the city for these sorts of products. There is definitely demand out there, but people feel embarrassed.'
Alfredo Zequeira, an American product designer based in Shanghai, said the poor turnout could be due more to ineffective marketing than to the economy.
'If you want people to come, then you have to advertise,' he said. 'I only knew about the expo because I happened to flick through a magazine, and that article didn't say where the show was being held or when it was running. The official website was not much more help, either.'
