Barkbox knows we love our furry animal friends and want what’s best for their needs — all of their needs, apparently.
Last week, the monthly subscription service released their “Overstuffed” November box, which included a “Big Honkin’ Pig in a Blanket” toy that reminded social media users of a much different product: a fleshlight.
A seemingly innocuous Facebook ad displayed photos of the toy, which, like fleshlights, came in a variety of sizes:
Alluring!
Because it’s the gutter-minded internet, it didn’t take long for users to flood the ad with comments suggesting the toy was made with a much more seductive purpose in mind. Soon, the post went viral.
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Of course, we all know there’s (mostly) no such thing as bad press, and that turned out to be the case for BarkBox. According to the company, they sold out in three hours on their BarkShop thanks to the viral post, with sales up 200% above average for a normal, non-promotional day.
On social media, the company tried to be coy about whether it had indeed purposefully designed the product to look like a certain sex toy. Barbox wrote on its official Instagram page:
LOLz!
BarkBox also wrote a blog post about the ordeal, explaining:
“Each year, we design over 432 toys for all of our different business lines. Our main goal is to make dogs happy, and we know that playtime lasts longer if the *humans* find our toys interesting as well. So because of that, we WAY overdesign our toys. We make these things called “Inception Toys.” We launched a whole subscription box called Super Chewer for dogs who demand a challenge. And we are constantly trying to make ourselves (and our customers) chuckle with hidden innuendos and jokes. Sometimes we’ll be a bit heavy-handed with our jokes…“
No kidding!
While the company might be showing a hard exterior, things are apparently much more delicate on the inside. (Much like a… well, you know.) According to the company’s blog post, the toy designers NEVER made the fleshlight connection when creating the product.
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An anonymous employee said via BarkBox slack:
“For the record – NEVER crossed my mind and I am a fairly nasty human. They’re just two pigs stuffed into blankets… When you see them in person, it certainly doesn’t read as a sex toy… I think.”
Not from the front, at least…
Whether or not the design was intentional, the company has since leaned in to the sensuality of its product. They’ve sent out PR pitches to thirsty reporters and even made a TikTok about how “thicc” the toy is.
Does the Big Honkin’ Pigs in a Blanket toy make YOU feel a certain way? Share your thoughts in the comments!
[Image via BarkBox & Disney]
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