We are not happy with Instagram here at Misters. Not that it would matter to Instagram, of course.

We are a startup, Instagram is a behemoth. We are talking about themes over which silences have accreted over years, Instagram is where perfectly happy people put up perfectly happy pictures of perfectly baked sourdough bread. It would be fine if Instagram did not have a corner on conversation. We would disagree with their prudishness, but defend, like Voltaire, their right to be prude. However, its corner on conversation is a fact. It is also fact that their (Facebook's) advertising policy says, and we quote:

“Ads must not promote the sale or use of adult products or services. Ads promoting sexual and reproductive health products or services, like contraception and family planning must be targeted to people 18 years or older and must not focus on sexual pleasure.”

The prudishness is not even cloaked. The world's default social media ecosystem has it outlined in black and white that it does not want "focus on sexual pleasure"! Of course it is fine with brands advertising with the help of bananas, cacti and other such phallic symbols. It is as if characters played by Dada Kondke or Shakti Kapoor are incharge of how sex can be referred, on this, contemporary, cool and supposedly liberal platform.

We have had our posts taken down when the word, 'erection,' featured in them. We have had our posts taken down when there has been mention of 'better sex.' We can't introduce our product, Misters Bold, which has been designed for better erections without using euphemisms like, 'vigour, vitality, stamina.' This creates a problem because we disavowed euphemisms as we wanted to have an honest, forthright conversation about sex. The use of euphemisms is a bog contributor to the stigma that exists in the category, and our brand stands for standing for destigmatisation.

Well, we could go on, but we reckon you might prefer listening to a version of this rant (and hopefully a more entertaining version) on Spotify, instead.