When Canadian couple Bruce and Melody Murison got laid off from Nortel Networks, they probably didn’t think that they would end up in Hollywood this week, giving away vibrators at the Oscars.
But you could say they’ve gone from Nortel to Porntel: The Murisons have an invention, a couple’s toy appropriately called the “We-Vibe,” which will be discreetly tucked inside the notoriously luxurious gift bags that are offered to presenters, nominees and performers at this year’s Academy Awards, with hopes of finding their way into the lives of the glitterati, from Angelina Jolie to Mickey Rourke. Well, maybe not so much Mickey Rourke.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be showcasing the We-Vibe at the Oscars and look forward to meeting the celebrities,” said Bruce. “The adult lifestyle industry is undergoing an explosion with an annual growth rate of 25 percent per year. Societal views on sexuality are opening up with an emphasis on romance, education, fun and luxury, and the fact we have been invited to participate in the Oscar gifting suites is proof positive that adult sex toys are going mainstream.”
Nortel is known for its intensive R&D, and it turns out that the We-Vibe seems to have benefited from the kind of optics expertise you’d expect from a former Nortel engineer. It’s described as “an electromechanical device ... which plots the x-y charts of power versus performance, versus the third dimension of the human dynamic: What frequencies do women like?”
And in true telecom vendor fashion, the We-Vibe is the fruit of a long exploratory cycle spearheaded by Bruce. The Murisons were on their way back from a trip to New York City, when the two began musing on the potential market for a small sex toy that could vibrate and be used between two partners without interfering in normal lovemaking. After some initial research online, the Murisons, parents of three, decided to go for broke, mortgaging their home to fund the project. Worried about the stigma of being associated with the “personal device industry,” the Murisons found themselves working in literally a secret laboratory for five years before going public with the invention.
But they eventually came out of the ex-telecom closet, and it turned out that the We-Vibe was certainly ready for its close-up. The toy has been rated No. 1 in North America, Britain, Germany and Australia, and named Top Sex Toy of 2008 by Canadian sex therapist Sue Johanson.
“High technology is finally being introduced to the adult toy market, which is starved for truly innovative products,” Bruce explained, noting that the We-Vibe is meant to be shared by a couple at the same time. “The world is looking for toys to spice up the average heterosexual couple's sex life and the We-Vibe does that without alienating or replacing the man.”
It’s all a far cry from Metro Ethernet and enterprise unified communications systems, but the Murisons’ high-tech background will continue to come in handy: The Murisons plan on using undisclosed NASA technology for their next product, and have created a “new technological platform we're going to be rolling out over the next two years.”
Spoken like a true engineer.
