CHICAGO — In less than a month, male pleasure device Autoblow 2 soared past its $45,000 Indiegogo goal with creator Brian Sloan’s infomercial-style product video inspiring GIFs on the web and international mainstream media coverage.
“I'm super happy the project has been noticed so widely but I'm not totally surprised,” Sloan told XBIZ. “I invested three hard years into this product precisely because my experience and intuition told me that a powerful automatic stroker is what men really wanted. Plus it makes for funny news!”
Sloan and the Autoblow 2 were featured on several popular tech, pop culture and lifestyle sites, including TechCrunch.com, Complex.com, Nerve.com, DailyDot.com, BroBible.com, Vice.com and Geekologie.com, as well as Bravo TV’s “Watch What Happens Live” and radio station KROQ on the “Kevin and Bean Show.”
“The Buzzfeed GIFs were unexpected and there's also a gif somewhere of me with that dildo sticking out of my forehead like some kind of Unidildocorn. Oops,” Sloan said. “I feel great about the TechCrunch interview because it’s not a website that normally covers such news but they were willing to stick their necks out and run something a little outside of the comfort zone of some of their readers. I applaud them for that. After all, sex plus technology is very sexy.”
While several sites focused on the novelty of the product, AboveTheLaw.com focused on Sloan’s professional past in law, while Vocativ.com interviewed two of Autoblow 2’s Indiegogo campaign backers — 46-year-old “Danny” whose multiple sclerosis affects his sexual function, and “Mark,” who lost feeling in some parts of his body after a car accident.
As the first motorized hands-free masturbator with an industrial motor, the Autoblow 2 is promised to provide powerful stimulation with little effort from the user.
”I’m always interested in anything that might be more stimulating — that might help me achieve satisfaction,” Danny told Vocativ.
On top of physical impairments, the taboo nature of male sex toys is yet another obstacle for overcoming sexual dysfunction.
“Socially, it’s more accepted for women to have these toys, whereas men are portrayed as perverted,” Mark said. “It bothers me somewhat knowing that I can’t just be open about buying this product. It’s not necessarily socially accepted at this point.
“I’m not necessarily Tarzan in the bedroom,” he says. “I feel like my wife has a lack of desire for sex. But I still have a huge sexual desire, but I can’t do it myself.”
