Would you pay nearly $400 for Thinx’s “period sex” blanket?

By Pavithra Mohan

June 25, 2018

Earlier this year, comedian and actress Rachel Bloom—the brains behind the CW’s musical dramedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend—released the music video for “Period Sex,” a paean to, well, period sex that was deemed “too dirty to air on TV.” Bloom, clad in a flowing red gown, performs the song as her on-screen character, Rebecca Bunch, and closes with an apology for soiling the sheets:

Are those sheets expensive?
I’ll venmo ya back for your sheets

Well, Bloom’s fictional counterpart will be pleased by Thinx’s latest endeavor—to make period sex leakproof. Thinx’s new product is the physical embodiment of Bloom’s ode to period sex, a seemingly luxurious $369 blanket infused with the same four-layer technology as in the company’s signature period-proof underwear. One side of the blanket is quilted satin; when the mood strikes, you flip it over to the cotton, absorbent side.

For Thinx, this launch is more about starting a conversation. (The blanket was unveiled during a pop-up event this past weekend aptly titled “Come as You Are.”) “The idea for our period sex blanket actually originated with a customer suggestion we received through our support line,” Thinx CEO Maria Molland Selby told me. “Dismantling stigmas about menstruation and reproductive health is what Thinx is all about.”

This is also Thinx’s first real foray into sexual wellness products, though Selby claims the company doesn’t have any plans to introduce, say, condoms or lubricant into Thinx’s lineup. As for how Thinx tested the efficacy of its blanket, Selby tells me it was the “good old fashioned way” and that testers said it “worked wonders.”

But will anyone shell out nearly $400 for a period sex blanket? Selby says the blanket is a “perfect complement to other luxury home goods.” But I suspect most people would rather, in the words of Rebecca Bunch, “put down a towel” and call it a day.

 

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