Steven Joyce is laughing off a video of a sex toy hitting his face, which is now doing the rounds online. 

The incident at Waitangi has already been reported in Germany, Canada, England, the US, India, and Denmark.

Mr Joyce said it’s not surprising.

"Possibly the novelty factor, in a number of levels - I think people will have a chuckle for a day or two until the next thing comes along."

AUT's Professor Paul Moon said while incidents like it seem trivial, they tend to be remembered year after year.

"We've had some manure thrown at Don Brash, a t-shirt thrown at the Queen so there's various projectiles, but I think when people get to the stage of throwing things, they've run out of ideas or ways of expressing what their point is."