“If there is one thing we share regardless of our gender or sexuality is the butt!”

If you are not satisfied with the products that available on the market, and you have a better idea, why not create your own product? That is exactly what Benjamin Jay decided to do. He created Odile, a sex toy for anal use that is unlike any other on the market. What makes Odile special? Well, easy: The user can change the girth of the product! In our interview, Benjamin Jay explains the finer points of this technology and the added value for the user.

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How did you get the idea for Odile?
Benjamin Jay: For many years, I was frustrated by the products on the market for anal dilation. A lot had been done, and I respect what mainstream anal sex toy companies have offered, but for me it was not efficient enough. Good anal sex requires good anal dilation first, and I believe that the sex toys on the market for anal dilation are not doing the job properly. Why? What is anal dilation? Anal dilation mostly refers to slowly and gradually widening the anus. In the market you mainly find two types of anal dilation sex toys: set of plugs and inflatable devices. I believe that the set of plugs has three major issues.

First, the product sizes: small, medium and big, have a 25% girth increase between each size which is not gradual enough and increases the risk of causing micro-fissures in your anus. Second, having to deal with three toys to do one job is not user friendly and can easily become messy. And third, the standard set of plugs design has a ‘neck’ that reduces the dilation at the sphincter, which is where dilation is most needed, and prevents the user from doing penetration movements for play.

The other alternative on the market is inflatable devices, which are known for having a lot of drawbacks like a balloon effect inside the anus, air leaking, and the risk of bursting within the anus from over inflation. Even visually, it’s not a sexy product. Based on this, I thought that the perfect anal dilation had to be done by one single product that was easy and comfortable to use, and once inserted inside the anus allowed the user to control precisely and gradually its girth and dilates equally the whole anus. I wanted a ‘sexy’ sex toy that allows the user to focus only on pleasure and was something that all genders would want to use. I dreamt about Odile and I made it!

Had sex toys already been part of your professional life prior to Odile? What did you do before this project?
Odile is my first sex toy project, but not my first mass consumption product. Previously, I worked for more than ten years for top industrial companies in different market areas as an industrial purchaser. This background mostly means being able to work with the main professional areas of a product development, from product design, engineering development, production and so on… Since the beginning of this adventure, I’ve been passionate about giving the best of my experience to this project, giving a special attention to the quality of manufacturing and the business reliability of it.

What exactly is Odile, how does Odile work, and what makes Odile special?
Odile, the name comes from orifice dilator, but I call it a Gentle Butt Plug Dilator. Odile is made to dilate the anus slowly, gradually, and safely. It is characterised by a key, a base and a shaft. The shaft is the part that has to be inserted into the anus. The key is the controller and by turning the key you control the girth of the shaft. The base that contains the main parts of the mechanics prevents over-insertion into the anus while using Odile. The base and the shaft are covered with a thick and soft medical grade silicone for maximum comfort.

Odile does not need a motor or battery to be functional, and it is not an inflatable device. The user via the key has a direct feeling of what is going on inside them, and therefore a total and safe control of their anal dilation. The user can control the girth of the shaft slowly, precisely and safely from 1’’ (2,5 cm) diameter to 1.5’’ (3,9 cm) while Odile is inserted inside the anus! And because of this, Odile is the first orifice dilator of its kind. The feeling of being dilated gradually from the inside is an amazing experience that I believe will satisfy the anal sex lovers!

How long did it take to develop Odile, and what were the problems and challenges you faced during the development phase?
It took me two and half years to develop Odile. Everything was challenging, from the part designs to the assembly strategy of the product, but the main challenge was the girth control mechanism. I wanted a simple and reliable mechanism but sometimes, it is really difficult to make things simple…

Who is the audience you had in mind when creating Odile? Is this for people who are new to anal play or for more experienced players?
Odile is designed for everybody! If there is one thing we share regardless of our gender or sexuality is the butt! People new to anal sex will enjoy discovering the benefits of good anal dilation for good anal sex, and more experienced players will for sure enjoy pushing their limits in anal dilation to receive more and more.

How much will Odile cost in stores?
In stores the price will be around $109 depending in which country you are buying it. During our crowdfunding campaign starting in February 2020 on www.indiegogo.com, we will reward early bird customers with a special $69 price including worldwide free delivery! So, sign up on our website: www.odiletoys.com, to ensure you don’t miss out!

Couldn’t consumers simply buy a lower-priced set of plugs to find out which size fits them best? What is the advantage of Odile?
I always compare anal dilation with body stretching at the gym! For example, when you stretch your legs, the only efficient way to do it is to slowly and gradually stretch your legs until you reach your limit, hold the position, relax and breathe. And if you want to improve your stretching, then slowly and gradually, go further and push your limits, repeating this process as long as you need. The idea behind body stretching is that stretching is a precise, gradual and continuous process! If you don’t reach your limit, you don’t stretch and if you stretch too fast or too much you will just hurt yourself. Well, anal dilation is just the same, by slowly and gradually widening the anus!

The anus is made of tight muscles, which need to be treated the same way as your legs at the gym! So, using a set of plugs for anal dilation is limiting and risky. Set of plugs are usually sold in 3 sizes: the smallest is 1’’ (2,5 cm) diameter, the medium 1.25’’ (3,17 cm) and the big one 1.5’’ (3,5 cm), which means that you assume that your anal dilation limit is 1’’, 1.25’’ or 1.5’’… But depending on your anus, your mood, your excitement at a special time, the perfect size that you need is more likely to be different! So, using a plug from a set of plugs is just guessing that it will fit, but if it doesn’t and even worse, if the plug that you try to insert is too big, you will just hurt yourself, creating micro-fissures in your anus and ruining the mood for anal sex… Again, anal dilation is a precise, gradual and continuous process which means that plugs having a fixed girth can always be too small or too big!

The benefit of Odile is efficiently simple. You stop guessing at your own risk what size will fit, because in one product you have all the sizes available! The shaft of Odile at its minimum girth is 1’’ (2,5 cm) diameter, which is the same size than the smallest size plug from a set of plugs, but Odile shaft’s girth can increases gradually, millimetre by millimetre if you want, up to 1.5’’ (3,5 cm) diameter, which is the same size as the biggest plug in a set of plugs. So, with Odile, you only have to insert your sex toy into your butt once, and from there, you will easily and safely control its shaft girth following your need! You will gradually find your anal dilation limit, play, relax and then if you want, push your limits to higher ones. Always having the perfect fit into your butt! This is how an efficient anal dilation has to be done to make it easier to enjoy anal sex, and this is what Odile is offering.

“The benefit of Odile is efficiently simple. You stop guessing at your own risk what size will fit, because in one product you have all the sizes available!”

You chose to go the crowdfunding route with this project. Why was this the best option for Odile?
Raising capital via crowdfunding is a good chance for us to stay fully independent. Odile is developed as a high-quality product and this requires funds. Crowdfunding campaign is a chance to avoid needing to open our capital to external investors or opening a significant credit line at banks. So please support us by signing up at www.odiletoys.com!

Are you worried that imitators and copiers might soon jump on your product?
Odile is an innovative mechanical device, and we applied the same patent strategy that you can find in other competitive industries. We have reinforced many times our patents along the way to protect our invention internationally as much as we could. Our patents include the product as you know it and dozens of upcoming versions and manufacturing alternatives. The sex toy industry is a big market but a small world where companies and wholesalers know each other, and we will definitely fight hard against imitators and copiers that intend to infringe our patents.

More and more brands and producers are entering the market for anal toys. Do you welcome this development, or does it worry you?
For anal sex toy lovers, having more choices and innovations is great, and for sex toy companies playing in a highly competitive market is of course challenging, but it will push us to bring high quality products to survive. Competition is also a good thing for this market which suffers from the low quality and dangerous products that are easily available.

How do you explain the growing interest in anal sex and the corresponding toys? Have people become keener to experiment in recent years or is the topic simply more in the spotlight?
The reason is probably simple! Anal sex is great! And yes, nowadays people are probably more than ever ready to explore anal sex. But practising anal sex also requires some education, and a lot of actors in the sex toy industry work hard to bring a good education to people and I think that has also contributed to this growing interest.

Which channels of distribution will you use to get your product out there once Odile is market ready?
We will give a lot of attention to the wholesaler’s channel to cover a large market as soon as possible, at the same time the internet direct channel via our website: www.odiletoys.com, will be developed.

Are there plans to develop other versions of Odile, or are you maybe already working on ideas for a wholly new product?
Yes! Since the beginning, our business strategy has included other versions of Odile. Our next product planned at the end of 2020 will be Odile mini with a minimum shaft diameter starting at 0.6’’ (1,5 cm) and Odile maxi with a minimum shaft diameter starting at 1.5’’ (3,9 cm), but soon we will also propose amazing versions that include vibration, removable and interchangeable keys, motorisation… Get excited because a lot more is coming!