Dive Brief:
- Major condom manufacturer Durex is trying to ignite a social media movement to back the creation of condom emojis, which it says would help people communicate more easily about safe sex.
- Durex has already designed two emojis for the purpose: a wrapped condom and an unwrapped condom.
- The company wants 1 million people to use and share the #CondomEmoji hashtag to show support for Durex's petition to the Unicode Consortium, which determines how text and emojis appear. They will send their submission Dec. 1, which is World AIDS Day.
Dive Insight:
The company argues emojis are now a key part of how young people communicate the world over, and this new form of language currently lacks any way to refer to safe sex. “By creating an official condom emoji, we will empower young people to place condom use and safe sex back at the heart of the sexual conversation," Karen Chisholm, marketing director for Durex USA, is quoted in Modern Healthcare.
According to research commissioned by Durex, 84% of 18- to 25-year-olds worldwide say they feel more comfortable talking about sex through the use of emojis.
It's not just a matter of language, however. The company concedes more than one-third of those surveyed responded they don't care about safe sex.
“Of course the creation of a condom emoji will not solve the wider issues of apathy in young people toward safe sex; however, it will be a powerful tool to help give young people a way to discuss these issues in a language they understand and use,” Chisholm said.