K-Y Spotlights Female Masturbation in Sex-Positive Outdoor Campaign

It’s 2021, and society is done with the male gaze. In fact, it’s high-time we do more to champion the female one, especially when it comes to sexual wellness. While stigma keeps the topic taboo in the mainstream, the only visibility masturbation gets in pop culture is through “bro” comedy. Until now.

For Masturbation Month, K-Y is celebrating loud and proud how real women comically refer to masturbation in an outdoor campaign, created by IPG’s Elephant, across New York City’s most sex-forward neighborhoods: East Village, Bushwick and Williamsburg.

Designed for all to stop, think and smirk, the brightly-colored, hand-painted type-only campaign features headlines like “Let’s give ourselves a hand” and “Hand up if you masturbate,” along with a longer manifesto honoring “all who polish the pearl.”

“For this campaign to truly be impactful, we couldn’t simply nod to a calendar event; we needed to carve a space for all who identify as women,” says Nina Mourin, associate creative director at Elephant New York. “That’s why we ‘cheers’ more than once in the manifesto, and feature a long line-up of euphemisms. The exaggeration is on purpose: if we’re going to grab the spotlight, you better believe we’re going to take our sweet time basking in it.”

The outdoor campaign will run for the month of May. K-Y will also use social channels to amplify the topic of female masturbation, encouraging connection, intimacy and wellness.

“Key cultural moments, like Masturbation Month, give us the opportunity to practice what we preach with playful awareness-driving tactics that engage our audience in new and surprising ways, further establishing K-Y’s leadership as a sexual wellness icon,” said Aliza Leferink, marketing director, Intimate Wellness USA, at RB. “We believe that masturbation deserves to be celebrated by everyone, especially women, and through this campaign, we hope to normalize any stigmas around masturbation and sex. It’s fun, it’s healthy, and it’s ‘Good For You’ and your relationship.”