Saturday, November 01, 2008

Coffee Under the Condom Tree

Do-gooders around the world have been working overtime to prevent the spread of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases by stimulating the use of condoms in ways that pornographers might envy.

In India, to make contraceptives trendy, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is underwriting a phone ring featuring an a cappella group singing "Condom, Condom" in doo-wop style, just the thing for a dorm room on Parents Day.

Down under, public health nurses are more subtle, hanging canisters of condoms on the branches of trees, under which young Australians are likely to hang out.

Latin lovers in Argentina are being subjected to "Be Careful" ads that depict copulating skeletons and men as swine, which could backfire by making the need for the product moot, and in Ethiopia, to disguise the smell of latex, a non-profit group is dispensing dark brown condoms that reportedly taste and smell like espresso with cream and sugar while Germans are experimenting with a designer version that sprays on for a perfect fit.

Abstinence, anyone?

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