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Menino Urges Trojan Not To Give Away Vibrators On City Hall Plaza

BOSTON (CBS) - The city is trying to stop condom-maker Trojan from going ahead with a plan to hand out free vibrators on City Hall Plaza.

In August, Trojan gave away more than 4,000 of the sex toys to crowds of people in Manhattan's Meatpacking District.  Some people waited as long as 45 minutes in line to get one.

Trojan's next giveaway target appears to be Boston.

Mayor Tom Menino's Chief of Property Management Michael Galvin wrote a letter to Trojan's marketing company Massivemedia saying the plaza is a "family-friendly" space and urged the company to find "an alternative site" to distribute the vibrators.

"I am told the public nature of the plaza affords you legal protection to distribute these products should you insist against our objections, but I would tell you in the strongest terms allowable that I feel this is an inappropriate and irresponsible use for the plaza," Galvin wrote.

"I think that's kind of disgusting," said one woman walking through City Hall Plaza Thursday night. "That's awful…kids walk around here!"

Another woman said, "I think that would be uncomfortable."

But not everyone's opposed. One man told WBZ he sees nothing wrong with the giveaway, since children likely wouldn't be the target audience.

"They'd probably only hand them out to adults," he explained. "They're not like throwing them out at people, saying, like, get your vibrator over here!"

Trojan Vibrations issued this statement to WBZ-TV Thursday afternoon:

"We have been working with the City of Boston's permit office to explore several locations that would be appropriate for the Trojan vibrator giveaway, but did not submit a permit application for the City Hall area. We look forward to bringing the buzz of the Trojan Pleasure Carts to Boston. As we have more information we will be happy to share it with you."

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stopped Trojan's first attempt at a giveaway there, but allowed it to go ahead once the company got the right permits for the event.

Mayor Menino is not shy about voicing his moral opinions. Last year, Menino pressured the Niketown on Newbury Street to remove T-shirts from their windows that said "Get High."

Over the summer, Menino made national headlines after he said he would ban Chick-fil-A from coming to Boston after the company's CEO made comments against gay marriage.

WBZ-TV's Jim Armstrong contributed to this report.

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