“For real?” That was my first reaction. At first I couldn’t tell if it was true news or if it was just a gag. And a good one at that, if it was.
Here we go: clicking on the headlines today, the online world was a-buzz with the news of Durex launching a new savory-tasting condom in everyone’s most favorite flavor ever: eggplant.
As one person commenting stated, you can use it to prevent ‘planting an egg’. Or, as someone else pointed out, seeing this condom could effectively prevent today’s youth from ever wanting to have sex again. Contraception achieved.
Reading on, from Twitter, to the Huffington Post, to a host of other outlets, comments abounded including the fact that Durex likely should avoid referring to the new development as #BreakingNews, (pun intended?)
Finally, after a bunch of fun, the truth emerged.
As it turns out, the company isn’t selling eggplant flavored rubbers, after all. Durex has been working at getting a condom emoji introduced, and this was all part of its on-going campaign to garner some attention. The contraceptive company says an emoji would help people talk about safe sex in a comfortable way, through digital communications.
Back in 2015, Durex’s marketing director Karen Chisholm proclaimed in a statement on the topic: “Emojis of this sort will enable young people to overcome embarrassment around the discussion of safe sex, encourage conversation and raise awareness of the importance of using condoms in protecting against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS.”
So, no funny purple veg but maybe more safer sex on the horizon. And some good entertainment in the process.
