Red-Light Specials

Hustler magazine and Wal-Mart haven't had much in common over the years. After all, the megaretailer won't even carry Hustler's explicit publications. But now they have at least one area of overlap. As of this month, Wal-Mart will be selling Wet, a sexual lubricant that has been a staple for more than a decade at Hustler's adult product boutiques.

If you haven't heard of Wet or its cousins, like Astroglide, you probably haven't been exploring the "sexual health" section of your local drugstore lately.

The migration of what used to be called "marital aids" from specialty sex shops to the mainstream stores began about four years ago for Trigg Laboratories Inc., the company that makes Wet. "Since then, even the more conservative retailers have come over," says John Winning, vice president of sales for the Valencia, Calif., firm.

"Every retailer has a different line on what will be acceptable—and that line can move," says Winning. "For us it was also about getting them past the name. But once they see our sales, that doesn't last long."

You might think that Wet and other personal lubricants with blush-worthy labels would be hidden away on a special shelf in the back of the store behind a curtain. Nope. They are usually right out in the open—near the female contraceptives and pregnancy tests.

Nor are they the most risqué items to appear on pharmacy shelves in the last six months. Indeed, certain aisles are starting to look like supply sites for Cosmopolitan magazine's sex tips section.