In the midst of wild and chaotic times, Dame Products has finalized our settlement in our lawsuit against New York’s MTA.
This makes us the first female-founded pleasure product brand to advertise through the MTA. Yes! We get to run ads on the subway now! You can take a look at the new approved ads here:
This legal battle wasn’t easy or convenient, but we still think it was necessary. Everything we held true in 2018 when we first started is still true today: it is wrongful and inconsistent to allow ads for sexual solutions for men, while blocking tasteful ads suited for vulva-havers and their partners.
By approving the ads shown above, the MTA is communicating that it is valid for penis-havers to want to have erections. We agree. We are fighting for Dame’s ads to be on the subway because we feel it is equally valid for vulva-havers to want to have orgasms and experience sexual pleasure. Stigma around pleasure exists in advertising as much as it exists in our cultural zeitgeist. The images and language in our ads are designed to show how sexual experiences are healthy, and ultimately part of overall wellness. We feel it is unconstitutional for sexually-oriented companies to be placed in a prohibitive space that silences the experiences we all go through as human beings.
Culturally, there is still more work to be done.
We want to thank everyone who has supported us, old and new. While it isn’t perfect, this settlement is a start. It is our hope that this will open the door for more frank, sincere, and honest representations of sexuality and pleasure in advertising—on the MTA and on other channels that are currently restricted. Female sexual pleasure is not profane; it is a part of overall wellness. We won’t be silenced, and neither should you.
— Dame Team
