Valentine’s Day ads are generally pretty forgettable fare, gushing with romantic clichés and not-so-subtly browbeating you into spending money on overpriced flowers, chocolates, cards and meals.
If you prefer your romance to be a bit more…experimental, however, sex toy emporium Lion’s Den has you covered with a fun new ad from agency Fancy, which has helped rebrand the once-seedy roadside chain into something more approachable to women and couples. The agency’s goal has been to make “a trip to Lion’s Den as normal as a trip to Walmart,” says Fancy co-founder Katie Keating, and that approach is evident in its new Valentine’s Day ad, “Rub-a-Dub”:
The best part of the spot is definitely the kicker with the woman firmly telling her tubmate, “I appreciate you!” It’s an unexpected and charming moment for a sex ad—and it was one that was ad-libbed by the actress during casting.
“It came up in the casting session. The woman randomly said that, and we thought it was hilarious,” Keating says. “Her whole expression and the way she did it, she’s so forceful about it—like “you’ve just got to know this.” We didn’t use the version where she shoves his head back in the tub afterword, but that was also pretty funny.”
Here’s a slightly longer “uncensored” version that includes a bit more of the couple’s muffled repartee:
The actors’ somewhat awkward back and forth is a signature of Fancy’s approach to stripping away the stigmas from sex toys and making them seem like clean fun. Casting is key, with the agency focusing on finding talent that most anyone could relate to.
“We were looking for people who were going to be approachable and normal,” Keating says. “We err on all the Lion’s Den stuff on the side of people being someone you can imagine yourself with, not a sexpot.”
If you’ve missed Fancy’s other work for Lion’s Den, here are a few of the previous spots:
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