"Buy a sex toy, save a child"

Last week on Twitter & my personal site I posted a picture from the charitable marketing campaign of Sinlesstouch.com, an online sex toy retailer. What fascinated me about it was the link between sex toys and kids--as you can see, the image featured a rather direct link between a child and some rather unmistakeable devices.

The reaction was even stronger than I imagined it would be. I understand that the image & the associated press release have been circulated as examples of how not to design a cause marketing campaign.

Still, Sinlesstouch has soldiered on, and in ways that I continue to find interesting. The offending image has disappeared from the ST site, which is probably a good thing given sensibilities in the U.S., where we have all but legislated that sex has no connection to kids. However, the Sinlesstouch.com site continues to provide an unapologetic description of the project & the company as a model of sustainable business practices. Even after TV news picked up the story, Sinlesstouch did not cave, despite one critic's unironic assertion that instead of thinking about sex our culture needs "to focus on the family."

This is, of course, far from the first time a sex-related entrepreneurial venture has been criticized for supporting children's charity. Back in my previous gig as a law professor, I encountered a woman whose charitable endeavors raised some eyebrows because she owned a strip club. Somewhat more recently here in New York, a school cancelled a fundraising event after local strippers volunteered to help.

Should sex be the third rail of children's charitable enterprise?