Condoms are back in the news again. I was writing about the Durex balloon-figure campaign in Singapore late last year, and it seems a delayed public-complaint has set the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore off on a bit of a crackdown. At least I think it’s the Durex series. It couldn’t be the Okamoto banana could it?
The authority has come out with new guidelines which state that:
“Such ads should focus on its protective rather than the pleasure-enhancing aspect and be “in good taste”, not promoting promiscuity. Photographs of the packaging are okay provided they are not “suggestive or offensive”.
The previous out-of-bounds marker, like the revised one, was fairly vague and open to interpretation, but the over-riding principle in the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice is:
- 1.1 All advertisements should be legal, decent, honest, and truthful.
- 2. Decency
- 2.1 Advertisements should not contain anything that is offensive to the standards of decency prevailing among those who are likely to be exposed to them.”
At first, like a lot of people I spoke to, I muttered to myself about how the announcement was reflecting a screwed-down, repressed society, but I’ve let it gestate in the back of my mind for a day, and now I’m not so sure.
OK, it’s just a bit of sexy fun with balloon-sculpture, and I do like the campaign, but maybe the complaint that they’re too explicit for an MRT train does hold some water.
I’m feeling a bit conflicted about it. Based on years of experience (with advertising, with condoms, just in general) I truly believe that enjoyment-positive advertising is the most effective way to get people to use them. Today’s Straits Times noted that STDs in teens has consistently risen in the past few years and we all know that HIV is also on the rise, so rising sales of condoms is not just important to Durex. Love-Box and Okamoto, it’s important to our community too.
On the other hand, Grey’s recent Eye On Asia survey (in their news section) found once again that family values are incredibly important in Asia (somewhere around 90% answered that it was the most important thing in their lives) and 78% thought that modern living is breaking up close neighbourhood communities. A similar survey in 2006 found that condom advertising, specifically, was a major issue for many Asians.
So I thought I had a strong opinion about this, but the more I thought about it the weaker my opinion got.
I was intrigued by one sound-bite in the newspaper article though. Personal assistant Eunice Lim, 26, said:
“There are reasons condoms are used other than for protection, but I guess parents don’t want the young to start asking awkward questions”
Spicy! I’m busting to know what Eunice knows! What mysterious kama-sutric practice am I missing out on? Please… if you know leave a comment… it’s killing me!
I’m also curious. The balloon ad doesn’t offend me, but does it offend you? Would you be worried about letting your 5 year old son/daughter/nephew/niece see it?
4 Comments
July 3, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Just a quick question though, all the gruesome pictures of smoking side-effects which members of public complained against, do they fall into the category of “in good taste”?
Quite an irony isn’t it?
Btw, yea we added flour and eggs into condoms and smash them into the birthday boy for 30mins flat at the chalet. Does that account for alternative usage other than for protection? Haha!
July 4, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Ah… the secret is revealed… and its not nearly as sexy as I thought it was going to be.
Still… if you’re into that kind of thing…
=p M
July 7, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Wow, Marc, you really considered this whole issue from every angle. Nicely done. A couple of thoughts. First, context is everything in a case like this. If these ads appeared in magazines targeting young adults and/or adults, I think they would be perfectly fine. On mass transit or other places where kids are likely to see them, not so good. Also, you’re absolutely right: Enjoyment-positive advertising is precisely how to get people to use condoms. And with all the STDs and unwanted pregancies out there, that is the most important goal of these ads.
July 9, 2008 at 10:40 am
Hiya Terry
I agree with your comment totally. Context and media I think are the key here and I’m not against some kind of guideline for not putting them somewhere like mass transit or on billboards. I’m not sure whether our new standards and guidelines allows for the distinction… hope it does!
=) Marc