In recent months, an even shadier challenger to Amazon’s online shopping crown has emerged in the form of Temu, a website that ships goods to consumers directly from China, bypassing middlemen and allowing them to offer products at obscenely low prices.
One item that has taken parts of the internet by storm is the rose toy, a clitoral vibrator and a cheaper alternative to the other rose toys available on the market, with some versions retailing for just $9.25. The most popular version of the rose toy costs $10.98 and, according to Temu, has been sold over 78,000 times.
The rose toy has exploded in popularity on TikTok in particular, partly because Temu does not verify customer’s ages when processing purchases that include adult toys, and partly because it became a meme on FlopTok. Temu’s rose toy experienced such success that one company that sells rose toys published a blog post citing quality control and safety concerns around Temu’s version.
In addition to FlopTok, the rose toy has become a meme on TikTok as well, with most people either making memes to the sound of a text-to-speech voice that says “I’m using my rose toy” or cracking jokes about how their rose toy exploded while they were using it. One user saw an opportunity to utilize her skills and got particularly creative with her rose toy video.
Izzy, an opera singer, took to TikTok with a short original song inspired by the Temu rose toy. It’s beautiful and haunting, and it goes like this: “I bought the rose toy you see on Temu and it burnt off my left flap.” Short and sweet and straight to the point.
The people agreed that Izzy had written a masterpiece, with one person commenting, “I work in an adult toy store, and I wish I could use this for my store’s phone ringtone when people call.” Another added, “This is so accurate, I would not even question it at all if I heard this coming from the practice rooms at school.” High praise!
Remember, folks: For the safety of your genitalia — and, potentially, your personal information — consider not buying knock-off sex toys from China over the internet.
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