Lawsuit: Fifty Shades of Grey Gel Misses the Big O

February 11th, 2015. By LucyC

Spent but not exhausted… Far from it in fact, if plaintiff Tania Warchol is correct. She’s filed  a lawsuit—are you ready—against the author of “Fifty Shades of Grey” and a British sex toy retailer for promoting Fifty Shades of Grey Sex Gel that does not live up to its promise of providing a “…a draining, soulgrabbing orgasm that leaves me spent and exhausted.” A quote apparently taken from the book.

Of course, it goes without saying that there could be several other reasons why Warchol failed to achieve the orgasm of lifetime (a widespread failing, I’m told), but we won’t go there, will we?

The consumer fraud lawsuit claims that author E.L. James and Lovehoney Ltd, among others, are peddling snake oil, essentially, and its subsidiaries are in violation of California’s unfair competition and false advertising laws by making misleadingly claims. (hey—everyone knows that writers never embellish).

The lawsuit also claims that the defendants use purported consumer endorsements as well as portions of James’ book to coax consumers into buying the product under false pretenses. Specifically, advertising for the over-the-counter “Fifty Shades of Grey Come Alive Pleasure Gel for Her”, claims to have beneficial and aphrodisiac properties to increase pleasure and enhance orgasms. According to Warchol, not so much. None of the ingredients in the product provide those benefits.

“Defendants prominently label the product as an ‘Intimate Arousal Gel,’ expressly and impliedly conveying to consumers that the product’s ingredients will help a user to experience heightened stimulation, pleasure and orgasm, despite that the product fails to be effective as an aphrodisiac,” the suit states. How are they defining aphrodisiac? I’ve always found a good red wine very helpful, taken orally, of course. A good lover is also helpful, but, in a pinch, not absolutely necessary.

While Warchol contends that the gel contains small amounts of extracts from organic substances including herbs and roots, some of which the defendants claim have an effect on the human body, it appears that not only are none of the ingredients effective as an aphrodisiac, but they may also cause an allergic reaction to genital areas. Oh, this is so going from bad to worse.

Even the FDA gets a mention, with Warchol claiming that Lovehoney didn’t seek US Food and Drug Administration premarket clearance required for patient lubricants that are used as accessories to condoms, Lovehoney is illegally marketing and selling the product at issue as “latex compatible.” No comment.

Warchol’s story is that she bought the pleasure gel at least twice in August 2014 at an Adam and Eve adult store owned by PHE Inc., another named defendant. While she relied on the defendants’ advertising, the product turned out to be “unsatisfactory,” she said. And that’s not subjective?

In case you’re interested in putting this stuff to the test personally, the “pleasure gel”, according to the complaint, is sold online and through retail stores for about $15. It is part of a larger group of products called the “Fifty Shades of Grey: The Official Pleasure Collection Approved by E.L. James.”

Bottom line, the truth really is stranger than fiction.

This was posted on Wednesday, February 11th, 2015 at 6:20 pm and is filed under Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.