PHILADELPHIA — The Kink Shoppe has announced its “50 Trades of Grey” book exchange program.
The company said customers are urged to bring in their copy of "Fifty Shades of Grey" and exchange it for their choice of one of the following "more credible and well-respected books of similar subject matter": "Carrie’s Story: An Erotic S/M Story," by Molly Weatherfield, or "50 Shades of Kink: An Introduction to BDSM" by Tristan Taormino.
The shop will make available 50 free books (25 of each title) for customers to swap. The exchange will be limited to one per customer. In lieu of a book, customers can also swap a copy of "Fifty Shades" for admission to 50 Shades of Reality: A Legit Intro to BDSM, a one-hour class presented at the Kink Shoppe at 2 p.m. ET on March 1. Otherwise, class admission is $10, with proceeds being donated to local domestic abuse organizations.
“If 'Fifty Shades' opened peoples eyes to something new and different that’s great. However, being an education based shop, we want to make sure that people are exploring their curiosities with a more appropriate frame of reference,” said Fred Hovermann, owner of the Kink Shoppe.
The operators said the exchange is meant to get the "Fifty Shades" books, a misguided, albeit entertaining story out of the hands of kink newbies and replaced with viable and credible information that promotes education and healthy, consensual BDSM play and relationships.
