The ad for Okamoto’s 003 Platinum rubberware showcases the condom’s key selling point - a thickness of just three millimetres - by demonstrating its snug fit over a banana. Another version shows a condom filled with water and a bee, with a headline reading, ‘Closest thing to nothing at all’.
The ads, placed on select Clear Channel bus shelters, SMRT trains and magazines, were pre-approved by the Media Development Authority. However, after the campaign broke in June, letters poured in to the local press; one, published in Today newspaper, read: “I wonder what other advertisements will appear next - perhaps those selling fanciful sex toys?”
The campaign also created seven pages of support submitted to SPH’s online forum, Stomp.com.sg. Andy Ong, marketing director of Corlison, which distributes the condoms in Singapore, said: “The Singapore public is generally becoming less conservative with regards to condom ads, although the amount of public debate remains fierce.”
More than in any other category, Singapore imposes heavy restrictions on ads for sexual health communications. Ong said that its agencies have to abide by the “forbidden three S’s”: no mention of the word ‘sex’, no visuals of sexual acts and no use of humans in the ads.
Media can only be planned in non-central outdoor and print properties, and must avoid TV, cinema or radio altogether.
Okamoto, a Japanese company listed on the Tokyo stock exchange, sells condoms in Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. “While our counterparts are able to extend their creativity via sound and moving visuals, here in Singapore we have to rely on attention-grabbing print,” said Ong.
Meanwhile Trevvy.com, Singapore’s largest channel targeting the gay community, launched an online animated video last month to promote condom usage at www.trevvy. com/evolve. The medium was chosen because “we’re not allowed to run any form of communications in mainstream media when reaching out to men who have sex with other men”, said Dominic Yeo, CEO, Trevvy.com.
“Whatever campaigns target this group are restricted to gay media and establishments only.”