Kiwi mum shocked to find vibrator display during Chemist Warehouse visit with teen daughter

A vibrator display at Chemist Warehouse in Sylvia Park caused a shocked reaction from a visiting Hamilton woman this week.

A sex toy display at a mall chemist store has proved a highly charged issue for a visiting Hamilton mother, who has lodged multiple complaints about the risk of ‘moral harm’ to children.

The woman contacted the Herald after visiting Chemist Warehouse’s Sylvia Park store in Auckland yesterday with her 16-year-old daughter, who was shopping for cosmetics.

While looking for a lip liner, her daughter pointed out a display of sex toys in a Perspex box.

“On the same row as the lip liners, at waist height, was a bank of five very brightly coloured vibrators,” the Hamilton mum told the Herald.

At first, she didn’t realise what they were.

“I thought they were those Korean face vibrators that are supposed to clean your pores.”

The woman, who initially thought they were “oddly shaped” face massagers, was shocked when her daughter explained their utility, informing her they were sex toys.

“One was named French Tickler,” the mum said. “My daughter giggled and thought that was just hilarious.”

The devices were displayed out of their boxes.

“I was mortified,” she said, particularly because her daughter’s friend was with them.

“I was shocked, absolutely shocked to see something like that in Chemist Warehouse, right next to all the lip glosses.”

When asked what she found so upsetting, and what inspired her to complain, she said: “I feel like doing something like that is normalising young girls to think it’s absolutely fine to be using this equipment.

“This is accessible to everyone that walks into Chemist Warehouse, from a 5-year-old through to a 80-year-old. Sexual toys can’t be put in the same basket as Lego.”

She was also struck by the colours, which she likened to confectionery such as M&Ms.

A vibrator display at Chemist Warehouse in Sylvia Park caused a shocked reaction from a visiting Hamilton woman this week.

After they left the store she decided to express her disappointment.

“I can’t say nothing about this,” she said. “I rang everyone, I was so shocked.”

She contacted Chemist Warehouse’s Sylvia Park branch and spoke to the “lovely” manager, who told her the store had received “other complaints, and [had] sent an email to head office”.

However, the staff member explained they couldn’t remove the products from the store without an okay from upper management.

When contacted by the Herald, the store manager confirmed she had spoken to the woman and informed the company’s chief executive and buying team.

“We totally understand her concern,” the manager said, confirming they had received two complaints about the sex toy display, which had been in place since January.

“It is displayed next to our cosmetics,” she said, aligned but not with them.

“Not too near the counter.”

The display was for a brand called Vacation Vibes. Shoppers sometimes thought it was a sunscreen.

“They sometimes get confused by the name of the product itself,” the manager said.

The packing is “quite sensitive”, she said.

The Herald understands the merchandise doesn’t include explicit signage or information explaining the nature of the item, and that decisions about stock and merchandising aren’t made at a store level.

The Herald has also approached a company representative for comment.

The Hamilton mum said she also complained to Syliva Park mall management, who told her that although they “realised” the issue, they couldn’t do anything about it.

“I called Ministry for Children and spoke to their social welfare adviser,” who said it “wasn’t within their legislative power”.

She also complained to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The mum said it was “their job to control anything that could cause moral, ethical or physical harm to children, and I would put this in the moral harm, or ethical harm”.

The ASA outlines in Principle 1 of its code that “advertisements must be prepared and placed with a due sense of social responsibility to consumers and to society” and that “advertisements targeting Children or Young People must comply with the ASA’s Children and Young People’s Advertising Code”.

Chemist Warehouse isn’t the only non-specialised Kiwi retailer to sell sex toys. Life Pharmacy sells a range of vibrators. Woolworths stocks the Durex Play Accessory Delight Vibrating Bullet, while beauty chain Sephora has an array of models.