Are Sex Toys Getting…Cuter? Inside the Whimsical Design Trend Taking Over

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that there are toys designed to look and feel like just about anything. From realistic dildos and Fleshlights to pleasure products meant to look like animal snouts or octopus tentacles, there’s something to cater to every fantasy. But one surprising thing I’ve noticed? Toys that look like…toys. Why the popularity of cute sex gadgets that at first glance look like they belong on the shelves of Toys’R’Us? Keep reading for some theories.

Cute is In

There’s no denying that adults are feeling emboldened to indulge in their love of all things cute. Grownups are proudly showing off their Barbie collections online, Labubus got a shoutout from Lizzo, and 30-year-olds are celebrating their birthdays at The American Girl Store. Maybe the rumors are true and Millennials are experiencing some sort of arrested development. Maybe women in particular are more comfortable reclaiming signifiers of girlhood as we’ve started unlearning ideas about devaluing femininity (I prefer that option). I am writing this article while burning a vanilla cupcake-scented candle, drinking from a mug with painted flowers and bows that I rest on a princess coaster, while looking at my pomegranate-shaped clock and my dapper fox pen holder. All of which to say, I am no exception.

Regardless of the reason, there’s no denying the appeal of cuteness. So, if we live in a world where laundry detergent pods look so appealing that kids think they’re candy, why not make sex toys look adorable, too?

Sex Should be Fun

Sex is fun. Sex is weird. Sex is silly. So, why shouldn’t sex toys be all those things? It is true that the first vibrators, invented by Joseph Mortimer Granville, were intended as medical devices for (specifically male) pain relief—not feminine hysteria, as legend and pop culture would have it. But now that we use vibrators for more pleasurable things, why do they still have to look functional or sleek? If something is designed for the sole purpose of making me and/or my partner feel good, why shouldn’t the mere sight of it bring a smile to my face?

From Unihorn’s collection of orally-inclined unicorns to Cute Little Fuckers’s lineup of otherworldly vibrating beings, it’s clear that there’s a market for vibrating companions that are meant to look fun, weird, and silly.

Why Give Toys Names?

It’s no surprise that names make things a lot more memorable. Even brands that aren’t associated with cuteness name their products as a way of making them stick in people’s minds and seem more appealing; my razor handle is called the Winston, my purse is called The Lori, and my camera is a Diana. The Pilot E95s is one of the greatest fountain pens ever made, but whenever anyone talks about it, they preface their comments with a joke about what a terrible name it has. There’s a reason the Unihorn Blaze Diablo wasn’t named, for example, The Unihorn F25g.

Okay, But Why Give Toys Personalities?

Beyond the cute design of the toys, the websites and packaging often provide biographies and names for each one. The Blaze Diablo from Unihorn came with a stats-filled trading card, and the CLF toys take it even further, by giving each toy pronouns and a backstory about where they come from. For example, Zeep is shy and comes from a jungle planet. And it really does work at humanizing the toys. When I wrote my review of their Morrie toy, I found myself referring to a piece of moulded silicone as “he”, and gushed about his cute little feet, etc.

Giving a sex toy a name automatically humanizes it, meaning that some people might be (consciously or otherwise) a little uncomfortable using it. For example, Womanizer named one of their vibrators after Marilyn Monroe. Every time I use The Marilyn, I find myself thinking about the tragedy of Marilyn’s life, her fraught relationship with her own sexuality, and the fact that the movie Blonde exists (and that’s a guaranteed mood-killer). Yes, I overthink absolutely everything, and yes, I am exhausting to be around. But my point still stands that naming a toy, let alone giving it a design that includes a face, will make people think about the ethics of using it.

By giving a toy a clear personality that the user can incorporate into their fantasy, companies can remove that moral quandary. I felt weird using the Evolved Novelties Butterfly Effect because it looked vaguely like it had a face. But I don’t feel strange about using the Starsi, even though it explicitly has a face and a name, because its bio clarifies that it loves the warmth of my body.

Let’s Be Honest…Marketability

I reviewed a handful of tongue toys a while back, and my favorite of the group was the Aria Flutter. It was compact, it had a pretty shape, and, what can I say, the vibrations just did it for me. But when I look back on the products I tried, what’s the one I remember the most? The Unihorn, of course. While it wasn’t the better toy and didn’t offer anything wildly different in terms of functionality, I remember its unicorn shape, how cute it looked in the box, and the fact that it came with a trading card. It was the one that made me say, “Wow, I can’t wait to try this one!”

Making toys cute quite simply makes them more memorable. I’ve tried (and really enjoyed) a lot of products from CalExotics. But if you showed me a picture of a random toy, even one I’ve tried, I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head what company made it. Unless a toy has a flagship product, most of them have such a similar design scheme (and, at a certain price point, similar quality) that the difference between brands often comes down to details. But with brands like Unihorn and Cute Little Fuckers, I could immediately tell which toys were theirs. And that type of design makes the sex toys stick in a person’s mind. If I had to recommend a tongue vibrator to someone, the name Aria Flutter would not immediately come to mind (it didn’t—I remembered it as “The Easter egg/rose-looking one” and had to look through my reviews to find it), but the Unihorn sure would.

I can also imagine someone collecting cute sex toys. The Unihorn is so adorable, I’m sure people go out of their way to own the whole set, even if they all effectively do the same thing. Cute Little Fuckers leaned into this collectibility angle by directly comparing a new toy to a Pokémon, and focusing more on its name, cute mushroom shape, and the fact that it’s “totally DTF” than how it works or whether it serves a different purpose than the other toys in their lineup.

Since these novelty toys are just as high quality as more regular sex toys, there’s absolutely no downside to getting or collecting them. Yes, the Unihorn sticks out in my mind because it’s so cute, but it’s also a really great little toy. And the fact that it makes me smile whenever I look at it is a bonus, as far as I’m concerned.

Becky

Becky V is a Los Angeles native who loves indie bookstores, Broadway musicals, and a good cup of tea. She is passionate about sexual wellness and wants to make the world a better place one orgasm at a time!