情趣用品行業喜迎《五十度灰》上映

When toys are made for movies, they are usually intended for children.

爲電影打造的玩具一般是旨在吸引兒童的。

But with the Valentine’s Day weekend premiere of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” many of the tie-ins to the film are for Adults only.

但是將於情人節週末首映的《五十度灰》(Fifty Shades of Grey)捆綁銷售的許多物品都是隻爲成人準備的。

The sex toy industry is banking on the hope that the Universal Pictures film will generate soaring sales, much the way the blockbuster erotic novel of the same name created thousands of new customers from the female readers who passed the book around their suburban culs-de-sac.

這部影片由環球影業推出，根據轟動一時的同名情色小說改編，該小說爲性玩具產業帶來了成千上萬名新消費者，大部分是在自家郊區宅邸中讀了這本書的女性，該行業希望影片也能發揮同樣效果，爲產品銷量帶來巨大提升。

In anticipation of such keen interest, mainstream retailers are stocking up on the pleasure industry’s blindfolds, whips, handcuffs and masks. Manufacturers have designed new packaging and products to fit the kinky tone and theme of the film, which is based on E. L. James’s story about a naïve young woman’s introduction to games of sexual bondage.

主流零售商期待人們會對這一領域產生強烈興趣，已經儲備了大量性愛產業出產的眼罩、鞭子、手銬和麪具。製造商設計出新包裝和新產品，配合該片奇異的基調和主題。小說原著由E·L·詹姆斯(E. L. James)撰寫，講述一個天真的年輕女人進入性愛奴役的領域。

Even Target, one of the nation’s largest retailers, recently began selling an official “Fifty Shades of Grey” “vibrating love ring,” an item intended for wear by men, but not on the finger.

就連全國最大的零售商之一Target最近也開始銷售《五十度灰》官方版“震盪環”，這是給男人戴的，不過不是戴在手指上。

“It is the biggest moment for our industry in popular culture pretty much ever,” said Claire Cavanah, a co-founder of Babeland, an adult novelty retailer. “We’re all sort of preparing for what could be another wave of toys.”

“這大約是我們這個行業在流行文化中最受關注的時刻，”成人玩具零售商Babeland的聯合創始人之一克萊爾·卡瓦納(Claire Cavanah)說。“我們正在全力準備下一波可能到來的性玩具高潮。”

Ms. James’s sexually charged trilogy — two followed “Fifty Shades of Grey” — became a cultural phenomenon, and turned Ms. James into something of a legend.

詹姆斯女士這本充滿性愛情節的三部曲——《五十度灰》之後還有兩本——成了文化現象，詹姆斯也在某種程度上成爲傳奇。

She sold the publishing rights to Vintage Books, a division of Random House, and soon reached even more readers who may never have normally read erotic fiction.

她把版權賣給了蘭登書屋(Random House)旗下的Vintage Books，很快擁有了更多讀者，其中很多人從未讀過情色小說。

Last year, Vintage Books announced that it had sold 100 million copies of the series. Ms. James, a middle-aged British mother and former television producer, was credited with introducing the concept of BDSM (standing for, loosely: bondage/discipline, domination/submission, sadism/masochism) into the mainstream vernacular.

去年，Vintage Books宣佈，該系列售出了一億冊。詹姆斯是一位英國中年母親，曾經當過電視製片人，人們認爲她把BDSM（代表綁縛/調教、支配/臣服、施虐/受虐）概念引入了主流話語。

She also ignited a huge bidding war in Hollywood. Executives vied for a chance to pitch Ms. James and her literary agent, Valerie Hoskins, on how best to tell the story of Anastasia Steele, a virginal 21-year-old student who becomes the submissive sexual partner to Christian Grey, a successful 27-year-old businessman.

她還引發了好萊塢激烈的競標風潮。高管們競相向詹姆斯以及她的文學代理人瓦萊麗·霍斯金斯(Valerie Hoskins)投標，說他們能拍好這個關於安娜斯塔西婭·斯蒂爾(Anastasia Steele)的故事，在書中，這個21歲的處女學生成了受27歲的成功商人克里斯蒂安·格雷(Christian Grey)支配的性伴侶。

Universal Studios and Focus Features eventually won, and agreed to pay $5 million for the rights to make the film.

最後獲勝的是環球影業與焦點電影公司(Focus Features)，它們同意支付500萬美元，獲取電影改編權。

The studio wanted to capitalize on the same readers — and others — who sent sales of adult products skyrocketing after “Fifty Shades of Grey” had its debut as an e-book in 2011. Suddenly, retailers had trouble keeping once-obscure products in stock. The novel spurred a 7.5 percent jump in sales of sex-themed products, including toys, videos and books, in 2013, according to a report from the research firm IBISWorld.

環球影業希望充分利用該書的同一批讀者——乃至其他觀衆——自2011年《五十度灰》以電子書形式登場以來，這些讀者令成人用品的銷售額突飛猛漲。突然之間，這些一度不爲人知的產品供不應求。一份來自調研機構IBISWorld的報告表明，2013年，在這本書的刺激之下，與性有關的產品銷售額上漲了7.5%，包括性玩具、錄像與書籍。

“We were kind of taken by surprise when the book came out,” Ms. Cavanah said. “But we’re much more prepared for the movie.”

“這本書所帶來的影響令我們大吃一驚，”卡瓦納說。“但我們爲這部電影做了很多準備。”

The movie will not be as graphic as the book. Neal Slateford, a co-founder of Lovehoney, the only company that has the rights to make the official “Fifty Shades of Grey” adult products sold in Target and elsewhere, does not expect certain toys used in the book’s steamiest scenes to appear in the movie.

電影不會像書那樣生動形象。Lovehoney公司是唯一一家獲官方許可，爲《五十度灰》生產成人用品的公司，並可將這些產品在Target等公司出售。Lovehoney的聯合創始人尼爾·斯雷特福特(Neal Slatefod)說，公司不指望書中某些最情色、使用了某些特定道具的場景會出現在電影中。

In an interview, Mr. Slateford said that his brand would not be featured in the film either, although some of the tamer products themselves could be.

在採訪中，斯雷特福特說，他的品牌也不會出現在電影裏，儘管某些較爲溫和的產品有可能會出現。

“I think that the movie will reignite sales of the book, which could boost sales,” he said.

“我想這部影片會重新引發購書的高潮，而書會促進成人用品銷售，”他說。

Adult-toy experts say it’s difficult to provide an accurate estimate of sales or specific items inspired by the book. But they do point to a few things.

成人玩具專家說，很難準確估計這本書刺激了多少成人用品的銷量或特別物品的銷量，但他們的確能指出某些東西。

The novel includes one particularly graphic scene involving Ben Wa Balls, also known as Kegel balls, an item that retailers had for years largely promoted as a sexual health product for women, especially after giving birth.

書中有個格外生動的場面寫到了本華球(Ben Wa Balls)，又名凱格爾球(Kegel balls)，多年來，零售商們一直將它作爲一種促進女性性健康的產品進行推銷，特別是生育之後的性健康。

Sales of the balls immediately spiked. The large sex product manufacturer California Exotic Novelties, which used to sell 80,000 to 90,000 each year, sold one million in the six months after the book’s debut, according to its president and chief executive, Susan Colvin.

這種球的銷量達到了頂峯，性用品大生產商加州性愛用品(California Exotic Novelties)的總裁兼首席執行官蘇珊·科爾文(Susan Colvin)說，公司過去每年只賣出8萬至9萬個本華球，在這本書出版6個月內就賣出了100萬個。

“There was a worldwide shortage of pleasure balls, literally,” said Mr. Slateford, the co-founder of Lovehoney. “Knowing that those aren’t going to be in the movie, I wouldn’t expect to be selling a huge amount of those.”

“事實上，這種性愛用品出現了全球性短缺，”Lovehoney的聯合創建者斯雷特福特說。“聽說這種產品不會在電影中出現，我認爲它的銷量不會再激增了。”

The sex toy industry is largely private, and not just culturally. Financial data is difficult to find because so few companies are publicly held.

性玩具產業非常私密，這不僅僅體現在文化上。相關的財務數據也很難找到，因爲性玩具公司幾乎都沒有上市。

Some experts, like Sara Ramirez, the associate publisher for retailing for the adult entertainment trade publication XBIZ, agree that Americans buy somewhere between $1 billion and $2 billion worth of pleasure products annually. A more conservative estimate from IBISWorld pegged that number at $610 million in 2013 and projected it to grow to $792 million by 2018.

成人娛樂用品銷售業出版物《XBIZ》的聯合出版人莎拉·拉米雷斯(Sara Ramirez)等專家認爲，美國人每年花費10億到20億美元購買性玩具。IBISWorld的估計更加保守，認爲2013年美國人花了6.1億美元購買性玩具，到2018年，這個數字將增長到7.92億美元。

Since only Lovehoney can officially use the “Fifty Shades of Grey” name, others have been forced to get creative. Pipedream Products, which makes sex toys and novelties, redesigned some of its packaging with a gray-and-black color scheme from the movie.

自從Lovehoney可以正式使用“五十度灰”的名字之後，其他品牌就必須更有創意才行。Pipedream也是專們生產性玩具的公司，它把若干包裝重新設計爲灰黑色，以便和這部電影契合。

California Exotic Novelties broadened its line of “Scandal” restraints when the movie’s trailer came out in July.

去年7月，當電影推出預告片時，加利福尼亞性愛用品公司拓展了它的“醜聞”束縛用品生產線。

And Jimmyjane, known for its vibrators, is taking its first foray into “soft goods” with a new set of fetish kits inspired by the film that include items like blindfolds and silk ties.

Jimmyjane公司以振盪器而聞名，如今它也開始初次進軍“軟性商品”市場，推出新的一系列受電影啓發的物品，包括眼罩和絲綢領帶。

“I would say that every single person has jumped on the bandwagon in terms of making toys around ‘Fifty Shades,’ ” Ms. Ramirez, the XBIZ publisher, said.

“我想說，所有人都在趕這股時髦，想做和《五十度灰》有關的玩具，”《XBIZ》的出版人拉米雷斯說。

Babeland has added 20 new items in anticipation of the movie’s release on Feb. 13. Lovehoney’s “Grey”-themed vibrator is among the best sellers. California Exotic Novelties ordered 10 times its normal amount of inventory for the six months surrounding the film.

爲迎接該片在2月13日的上映，Babeland增添了20種新產品。Lovehoney的“格雷”主題振盪器是最暢銷產品之一。加利福尼亞性愛用品公司訂購了相當於平時庫存十倍的產品，爲電影上映後的六個月左右時期做準備。

Lovehoney products even made their way into Target in December, where its line of “Fifty Shades of Grey” candles, lubricant and blindfolds upset some parents a few weeks ago at a store where some items were stocked right next to Captain America toothbrushes.

Lovehoney的產品甚至從12月就已經開始在Target銷售，包括冠以“五十度灰”的蠟燭、潤滑液和眼罩，幾周前，這令若干來某家店買東西的父母感到不安，因爲這些玩具就放在“美國隊長”牙刷的旁邊。

But while these companies do not want to miss an opportunity to capitalize on the film, they don’t want to overestimate demand, either.

但這些公司一方面不想錯過利用這部電影的機會，但他們也不想過高估計市場需求。

Babeland still has some items left over from when it rushed to increase supplies in 2012. The company has been a bit more conservative this time around, and says that the items tied to the movie represent about 5 percent of all new products.

Babeland仍然有一些2012年急劇增加產品供應期間剩下來的物品。這一次，公司顯得保守了一些，聲稱和電影有關的物品只佔所有新產品的5%。

“My personal opinion is that there’s going to be a sharp spike and then it’s going to tail off rather quickly,” said Nick Orlandino, the chief executive of Pipedream Products.

“我個人認爲，電影上映後銷量會出現峯值，之後也會很快下滑，”Pipedream公司的首席執行官尼克·奧蘭迪諾(Nick Orlandino)說。

There are cultural concerns, too. The book may have drawn a niche erotic practice into the spotlight, but some critics also saw a male protagonist who pressured his lover in a way BDSM enthusiasts say is antithetical to what should be a consensual relationship.

此外也有文化方面的考慮。小說可能是把小範圍內的性愛體驗帶到了聚光燈下，但有些批評家認爲書中描寫了一個逼迫愛人的男主人公，而BDSM愛好者認爲，恰恰相反，這是一種雙方一致同意的關係。

Those misconceptions, some say, could also extend to sex toys. And manufacturers don’t want customers with unrealistic expectations to be disappointed with their products.

有人說，這些誤解也可能會延伸到性玩具領域。生產商們不希望用戶對他們的產品抱有不切實際的期待，之後又感到失望。

“A lot of the ways they describe the toys and the products in the book, E.L. James didn’t get quite right,” Ms. Colvin said. “Using kegel balls is not too much fun, it’s actually hard work to do it right.”

“E·L·詹姆斯在書中對這些玩具和產品的許多描述都是不對的，”科爾文說，“凱格爾球並不是那麼有趣，要想正確使用它並不是那麼容易。”