The follow-up to this story is that the promotion was shut down by the city due to crowds. Nearly 300 people had lined up at a time. The company will be allowed to re-do the giveaway when they have the proper permits at a later date.

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Everyone loves free samples. They’re free. A pen? Sure. A new deodorant? Awesome. But a new promotion from Trojan might have some people hesitating. Or maybe not. Either way, the latest promotion feels like a bit of social experiment when it comes to see how sex-positive the public is.

The company will be handing out 10,000 free vibrators from two hot dog carts identified as pleasure carts in New York City, today and tomorrow.

Along with the brand’s logo, the carts will have sayings like “Getcha vibes here!” and “Relish the moment.”

Trojan plans to distribute 5,000 each of the Tri-Phoria device, which retails for $40 and the Pulse, which retails for $30, for a total value of $350,000. Trojan asserts this is the biggest handout of vibrators ever.

The idea is to market the product as being a part of everyday life and the company is hoping that people respond positively to it.

I personally think it’s a great idea, if you have the money for it, why not give your product away? I’m not sure if it will mean that after the fact people will be spending their money on the product, but at least it will get the word out. I don’t see a promotion like this going over too well in a conservative town, but in the context of New York City, it feels like just another day.

I could see how it could potentially offend some people in the public sphere, given the subject matter behind the product, but if it was free condoms the company would give away, I think it would be a nonissue. With the promotion being vibrators, I think that people should just accept that it’s a campaign from Trojan and take it or leave it. It’s not being forced on anyone and I think it’s an interesting use for being open-minded in 2012.

I’m interested to read about how it goes.

Do you think this is a good idea? Does giving away so much of a product for free devalue it? Do you think it will result in an interesting public discourse about sexuality in 2012? What do you think about the company doing this promotion?