Friday 13 February 2015 12:16 pm

The 9 biggest winners and losers of from the Fifty Shades of Grey effect – B&Q, London Fire Brigade, Teddy Bears, midwives and more

Fifty Shades of awesome: The winners

1. B&Q

B&Q has come in a winner among the many, many, shameless Fifty Shades bandwagon jumping stakes. For a usually family-friendly DIY store, the “leak” of an email warning staff to expect a run on duct tape, rope and cable ties from adventurous shoppers inspired the movie was a surprise move.

2. Cinemas

The Odeon cinema chain says it’s raking it in, selling one ticket every seven seconds, and overall, the movie is expected to gross more than $100m worldwide, some $60m of which from Valentine’s Day alone. For a format which has been in some decline with the rise of on-demand movies and mobile viewing habits, cinemas will welcome Fifty Shades whipping movie-going back to life.

Although it has caused some US cinemas to issue a warning that movie-goers are banned from bringing any, er, “props”, to screenings so as not to make fellow viewers uncomfortable.

3. Retailers

It’s not just B&Q expecting a sales upsurge. From high-end to high street sales of sex toys, bondage gear and lingerie are expected to surge.

4. Writers

An unexpected Fifty Shades effect, perhaps. The demand for erotic writers has apparently soared. The number of job ads looking for the next E L James has jumped 56 per cent in the last year according to Elance-oDesk, a platform connecting freelancers and businesses.

5. Bookies

Always trying to drum up interest among punters, bookies are offering odds on many a Fifty Shades related wager.

Betting on the first Fifty Shades inspired “public bonk” as Paddy Power pit it, has now opened. The London Eye is 4/1, London Underground 5/1 and London Zoo 12/1.

It’s also offering odds on the names of the title characters being the most popular baby names of th year. Really. It’s 20/1 for Anastasia and 25/1 for Christian.

Meanwhile, a declaration of a shortage of the morning after pill or condoms by the Monday after the film’s release are 20/1.

Kerching

Fifty Shades of Awkward: The losers

6. London Fire Brigade

More like Fifty Shades of Red. London Fire Brigade (LFB) expect to spend some of their time answering call outs to people trapped in handcuffs or rings rather than fighting fires. The emergency service expects a spike in the number of these type of incidents, up from the 393 it’s had since last April.

"The Fifty Shades effect seems to spike handcuff incidents so we hope film-goers will use common sense and avoid leaving themselves red-faced,” said LFB’s Dave Brown, probably while trying to keep a straight face.

7. Teddy bears

Is nothing sacred? Not when it comes to shameless promotions. This teddy bear dressed as character Christian Grey even has tiny teddy bear-sized handcuffs. The combination of something innocent associated with childhood and risque bedroom behaviour? Unbearable

8. Midwives

Midwives across the country will be bracing themselves for 20 November.