The idea is to put the fun back into safe sex, and move the condom maker beyond the category norms of preventing pregnancy and venereal diseases. “Originally, Durex was just about safe sex. Of course, safe sex is right and is a big part of the brand heritage, but we wanted to push it into the context of play,” said Paul Anderson, creative director of Ogilvy RedCard.
Three different executions, art directed by Elyn Wong and written by Jo Collings, show the copulating condom couples in the ‘wheelbarrow’, ‘scissors’ and ‘seesaw’ position above a tagline that reads: ‘It’s playtime.’
Anderson denied the ads were too risqué for Singaporean audiences. “Sex can be playful. Humans and dolphins are the only animals that have sex for pleasure, so why not celebrate that fact?” he said.
The figures will appear as press ads in I-S, men’s magazines Maxim, Men’s Health and FHM, as well as posters in bars such as Zouk.
The campaign marks a strategic shift for Durex, which is is set to release its own line in playful sexual enhancers and lubricants, which produce a warming sensation during coitus. The brand is also set to debut new lines of condoms, including the Ultra Light variety.
Singapore is a country of relatively low condom use, according to Durex’s Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey 2007. Only 41 per cent of Singaporeans use a condom when they have sex for the first time, compared to 56 per cent in Japan and 47 per cent in China. Of all the Asian countries surveyed, only in Malaysia do fewer first-timers (23 per cent) rubber up.
However, just 13 per cent of Singaporeans felt they are at risk from sexually-transmitted diseases when they have sex, whereas 24 per cent of Thais and 26 of Chinese have the same fears.
Durex owner SLL International exceeded its 10 per cent operating profit growth targets this year, as global sales for Durex grew by 16 per cent.
However, the spread of Aids infections in Asia shows no signs of slowing. Two people in Asia-Pacific are infected every minute, according to the United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids.
