Saucy solution to sports chain's sales spike

Sporting goods chain Decathlon has finally solved a sales mystery stretching back a number months - and the answer involves a Hollywood film.

A sudden and apparently inexplicable spike in the sale of whips - but no other horse-riding equipment - raised a few eyebrows at Decathlon headquarters … until the team realised that the jump in sales coincided with the release in France of erotic romantic drama 50 Darker Shades, first at cinemas and then on DVD and Blu-ray.

It would seem that the film caught more than a few imaginations...

The store revealed the results of their internal study in a tweet that quickly went viral.

50 Darker Shades sees Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan reprise their roles as Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey from the 2015 box office hit 50 Shades of Grey.