Grace Bennett is the co-founder of Bonjibon, an every-person sexual wellness shop and online magazine, based in Toronto, Canada. She's now also the proud recipient of two letters from the United States Department of Defense on behalf of the country of Bahrain.
The Middle Eastern island nation, neighbouring Qatar and Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf, is home of the U.S. Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain in Manama and the 5th Fleet.
In a TikTok on their business account, Bennett shared the letters she received asking her to stop shipping her company's products to Defense Department personnel in Bahrain.
She captioned it:
"Made my week. Think I’m gonna frame this in a PINK frame."
You can see her video here:
Bennett began by stating:
"If I had a dollar for every time the American Department of Defense and the kingdom of Bahrain were mad at my spicy toy business, I would have a Twoonie because I got two signed letters..."
Twoonie refers to the Canadian two dollar coin.
According to the letter, Bonjibon's products were "posing an immediate danger to life or limb or an immediate and substantial danger to property."
Bennett shared that these dangerous devices included a butt plug and bullet vibrator.
The United States Postal Service and the DOD work together through the Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA), managed by the Army, to provide worldwide mail services (APO/FPO/DPO) for service members. These address formats don't reveal the country, just the person and military unit.
Bennett had no idea her business's products were going to a country where they would be illegal.
She told CTV News:
"We didn’t even know it was going to Bahrain until it came back to us months later, and it just kind of unraveled this whole … hilarious moment."
The letter—with the subject line "Adult item Identified during X-ray Mail Screening"—sent by the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command fleet logistics centre in Bahrain read in part:
"During security screening by Bahrain Customs, pornographic materials and or devices were identified in a package addressed to you. This letter is to notify you that your parcel was returned to the sender. Please notify the sender that pornographic materials or devices are not allowed into the Kingdom of Bahrain."
Bennett added:
"We got a huge kick out of it. I mean, we don’t judge, we want everyone to order whatever they want and we want everyone to feel confident and start shopping for whatever they want. But, there is a juxtaposition of a military person in a foreign country ordering butt plugs and having no understanding that those items are illegal in the country that they’re in."
"I don’t know why they’re sending me very cross letters saying, ‘Stop sending items that could cause bodily harm to this country.' This sounds like a you problem. The call was coming from inside the house."
Bennett says the customers were reimbursed for the products they paid for.
"There’s many layers of hilarity to this that we can all just poke fun (at) and the situation is quite funny, while at the same time, I genuinely want everyone—I’m sad that they didn’t get their order."
In a follow-up video, Bennet placed one of the letters in a bedazzled frame for display in her office.
People found the letters hilarious and baffling.
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According to their website, Bonjibon is devoted to the principles that:
- Feminism is inherently intersectional.
- Consent is mandatory, active and enthusiastic.
- Pleasure is good.
- Topics of pleasure, sexuality, and wellness should not only exist in the margins of society. They deserve cultural, and literal, space.
- eCommerce shouldn’t kill the planet. All of our shipping materials and back of house processing is done with mindfulness to the environment and recycling programs.
- Natural and ethically sourced products are good for the body, planet and soul.
Unfortunately, as Grace Bennett stated, they're unable to share their products with areas of the world where "spicy toys" are illegal.
Maybe the recipients can sign up for their online magazine instead.
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