'50 Shades Of Grey' Responsible for Rise in Handcuff-Related Emergencies?

"Fifty Shades of Grey" has had a dramatic effect on several markets. For one, the publishing industry has been raking in the big bucks, with more than 32 million copies of the three novels in the United States alone. It's had an impact on the sex industry, with sales of toys and other, ah, devices increasing as readers look to imitate the actions of protagonists Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey. Heck, people are even spelling the color "grey" instead of "gray," which is a major AP Style faux pas, but whatever. 

Getting back to the increase of sales in sex toys and such, there is of course a downside. People are also trying out some of the kinkier aspects of the "Fifty Shades" trilogy, including bondage. And bondage means handcuffs. And handcuffs means people are losing the keys to the handcuffs, or the keys to the handcuffs aren't working for some reason. And that means their hookup is left in awkward, if not precarious positions. The London Fire Department reported that it's had to respond to nearly 80 calls in the last three years for incidents involving handcuffs. 

"I don't know whether it's the Fifty Shades effect, but the number of incidents involving items like handcuffs seems to have gone up," said Dave Brown, a third officer in the department. Tossing in a joke for good measure: "I'm sure most people will be Fifty Shades of red by the time our crews arrive to free them."

The 79 handcuff incidents are among 1,300 cases of people being trapped in "everyday household items" since 2010, according to the service. Although our morbid curiosity wants to know what items are included in this list, we also know we will regret it when we find out. Remember that this number represents London only. We can only imagine the stories the Las Vegas Fire Department could tell.