Let’s face it: you probably know someone who has one. You may even have one yourself. But chances are you’re not talking about it. Vibrators: Half of Americans use them, but are too ashamed to admit it.

It was time to take vibrators outside of the bedroom and into the mainstream. As America’s most trusted sexual health brand, Trojan was an ideal hero in the crusade to demystify sex taboos, popularize vibrators and empower people to proudly take control of their sex lives. In the process, the brand aimed to secure pleasure-positive media coverage, consumer testimonials, increased sales, and link the brand to living a healthier, more fulfilling life. They wanted to get people buzzing.

What better place to start than in one of the most vibe-rant places on earth: New York City. Trojan mounted a crusade to bring pleasure to the public by tackling taboo right in the streets. They commandeered a beloved New York icon—the hot dog cart—to stage a guerilla-style giveaway of 10,000+ vibrators. Talk about a Trojan Horse!

And it worked! Reporters and fans lined up in anticipation. But with soon-to-be vibrator owners lined up for blocks, officials unexpectedly shutdown the carts. So the Trojan team improvised to keep the campaign going, ultimately reversing the shutdown and turning civic unrest into front-page news!

The results? National and international coverage, nearly a billion media impressions, drastically increased sales and web traffic, and 10,000 vibrators in happily buzzing new homes.

Trojan commandeered a beloved New York icon—the hot dog cart—to stage a guerilla-style giveaway of 10,000+ vibrators. Talk about a Trojan Horse! Other NYC icons played a role in the launch: the New York Times ran an exclusive and Howard Stern did live radio reads on launch day. With that, dozens of reporters and hundreds of fans lined up in anticipation.

But in New York, nothing is predictable. With soon-to-be vibrator owners lined up for blocks, officials unexpectedly shutdown the carts, citing traffic obstruction—like there’s never been traffic in NYC! The Trojan team improvised to keep the campaign going, collecting addresses of disappointed customers to ship free vibrators and turning civic unrest into front-page news. Mayor Bloomberg was christened a “buzz-kill” for pulling the plug on pleasure, and no one wants that moniker. In response, the shutdown was reversed and the carts returned the very next day!

We broke through the taboo and made vibrators mainstream…

• 90% of coverage included about vibrator mainstreaming messaging and usage statistics

• 100-plus broadcast pieces profiled people openly speaking about vibrators

• 7,500-plus tweets

…linking pleasure-positive messaging to Trojan

• 95% of coverage featured pleasure-positive Trojan messaging

• 100% of coverage included Trojan product messaging and/or imagery

And we generated one hell of a buzz…

• 400-plus original placements, equaling 750 million impressions

• Coverage in a range of outlets, including New York Times, AP, Wall Street Journal, NY Post, TMZ, ABC, and in 15+ international markets, including China, Korea, Australia and Germany

…driving both sales and market share of Trojan products, including

• a 33% lift in revenue versus week prior

• TrojanVibrations.com saw 55% increase in visits

• Direct Response metrics showed an increased ROI–1.14 to 1.42

• Trojan’s new Vibrations Facebook page gained 5,000 fans