Is It Okay for Fleshlight to Remember September 11th?

As someone who clearly remembers my own experience of New York City on 9.11.2001, I had originally made the decision to stay off social media for the next 24 hours. It’s not that I didn’t want to remember people I knew – and people I didn’t know, who were all lost in what felt like my backyard that day – it’s just that 9.11 still hurts. Even if it has been 13 years since the attacks on the towers, today is one of those days when memories come flushing back. In particular I remember a lot colors from that day, especially how the sky was super blue and the people running from downtown were all caked in white.

So, while avoiding social media, I get an email from a friend. The subject line read: Interesting reaction. The only thing in the mail was a link to a Buzzfeed article about Fleshlight and 9.11.

And with that, I was back. I mean I had to look. What was Fleshlight, the sex toy company responsible for making a series of fake vaginas, butt holes, mouths and “non-descript” circles that are supposed to allow a man to feel like he’s penetrating a human piece of any of the above (except for the non-descript circle which doesn’t look real, but may feel real anyway) doing posting about September 11th?

This was their tweet:

At first I thought it was wrong. But then I realized what was wrong was all the reaction around it. The good, bad and ugly. The bad and ugly remarked that Fleshlight was the most awkward company to remember September 11th and that they were just cashing in on the day. Perhaps it’s just weird that Fleshlight, a company concerned with male pleasure, tweeted about 9.11 – because it’s a day that isn’t about pleasure? One other tweeter noted that it was two hours before Barack Obama and the White House mentioned that they would never forget? Was Fleshlight just too soon? Or has September 11th become one of those holidays that it’s only okay to mention if you’re a person, or a brand like the NFL, Boston Red Sox or a News outlet?

I don’t know. I think the Internet makes it easy for anyone to chime in on everything (and yes, this post is a perfect example). But does that make it wrong to remember?

What do you think about Fleshlight’s tweet?