Condom Ad in Michigan State University Newspaper Arouses Controversy
by Todd Heywood, New Journalist Fellow
November 25, 2008 - 8:00am (Print)
EAST LANSING, Mich. - An advertising insert placed in the Michigan State University (MSU) student newspaper, The State News, on Thursday, Nov. 13, is raising eyebrows among health educators.
Durex condoms initiated a national advertising campaign called Durex U with an insert that encouraged students to "major in sex and you could score $25,000." The ad promoted a sweepstakes with prizes that included "trips, entertainment and other diversions to heighten your education." It also prominently featured a drawing of a man and two women in the back seat of a convertible with strawberries, whipped cream and banana.
The advertisement directed readers to a web site, DurexU.com, which requires certification that the visitor is 18 or older and includes the illustration pictured in the ad, along with depictions of couples, covered by sheets, having sex in bed and on a football field.
"We believe that such an overt stereotype of college students engaging in casual sex does little to help us educate our population about healthy sexuality. The overt sexism is also not conducive to the environment we work to create on campus - one that is inclusive of all genders and sexual orientations," said a statement released by MSU Olin Health Center's educators, Dr. Dennis Martel and Erica Phillipich.
"This ad and Web site provide only clearly heterosexual scenarios and the physical act of having sex; while allowing for no discussion, no communication, and no education regarding consent between partners or safer sex strategies," the statement continued.
"It always disappoints us when a condom company has an opportunity to promote comprehensive and responsible sexual health information," said Lori Lamerand, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan, in a phone interview. "It's too bad when that is missed. It seems like it wouldn't have been hard to catch attention and include responsible messages."
But Durex representatives challenge the health educator's characterization of the advertisement.
"This campaign is not for the faint of heart, and it definitely was created to speak to a certain target audience - one with a definite sense of humor and an appreciation for out-of-the-box creative," said Steve Mare, brand manager for Durex Consumer Products.
Mare declined an interview, opting instead to issue the statement in a release through the company's public relations contractor, Jennifer Grizzle.
"We gave our agency, Youthography, the freedom to develop an ad campaign that, while a bit edgy, speaks directly to this audience and gets them thinking about their sexual well-being which is a balance of physical, emotional and sociological factors."
The Los Angeles-based Youthography is also defending the ad.
"The Durex U campaign was developed to talk to those men and women who seemingly get bombarded with suggestive and often irresponsible messages in movies, TV and online mediums," said Jeff Roach, vice president of strategy for Youthography.
Roach's statement was also included in the release from Durex. "The ad was clearly an outrageous and exaggerated situation that doesn't exist in everyday life. It was meant to be thought-provoking and invoke reactions regarding the consequences of irresponsible behavior."
"I think there are other ways to invoke conversations and get people to talk about responsible and healthy sexuality than to do outrageous ads that border not getting people to talk at all," said Martel, the MSU health educator. He said the ads are difficult to understand and thus inhibit full conversation. "These ads create misperceptions about sex and sexuality. I don't see how this creates dialogue."
Martel said Olin relies on "evidence-based" education practices.
"We use cutting-edge and funny sides too, but they are based on data, and we use effective interventions that are proven," he said. "We don't go to an ad agency and say how do we promote our product. We have a philosophical difference in how to promote condoms."
Martel points out the advertisement implies the use of whipped cream with condoms is OK. However, whipped cream contains oil, which has been shown to degrade latex condoms, causing failure which can lead to infections and unintended pregnancy.
"Whatever their strategy in thinking outside the box, everyone has a responsibility to promote responsible behavior," Martel said in a phone interview.
Craig Covey, CEO of the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project (MAPP) said he found nothing wrong with the advertisement.
"I find the ad kinda fun and cute. Since it is for condoms, I would support the ad. [MAPP is] not anti-sex, but rather pro-safer sex," he said in an email.
Bah. C'mon, Its funny. People are too PC and sensitive these days. Studyandscore.com my friends.
We don’t want to waste your time nitpicking a few words here and there, but there’s two words in the quote in the article above from a couple health educators from the MSU health center that really don’t seem right, and are worth some comment:
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“The overt sexism is also not conducive to the environment we work to create on campus - one that is inclusive of all genders and sexual orientations.”
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Overt sexism? Oversexualized, sure, it’s a caricature of college students and recreational sex. Heterocentric, definitely, but at least on a college campus like MSU one might expect heterosexuals to be the biggest market for Durex, and while they shouldn’t limit GLBT themes to just whatever percentage their marketers say should be present, they should at least be visible somewhere (and maybe they are, in other ads). The two characters representing "Durex U" are also white, stereotypically athletic-looking, and a little overdressed. But ‘overt sexism’?
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What does “sexism” mean? Here’s what Merriam Webster says:
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Main Entry: sex•ism
Pronunciation: \ˈsek-ˌsi-zəm\
Etymology: 1sex + -ism (as in racism)
Date: 1968
1: prejudice or discrimination based on sex ; especially : discrimination against women
2: behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex
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The MSU health educators might most likely be talking about definition #2, saying these ads might foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex. But what exactly is a “sex role” anyway? See, we’re getting further and further into hair-pulling semantics and we aren’t gonna go there. We never really got straight the difference between a statistical “mean” and “median” either, but we think we know derogatory, discriminatory imagery when we see it, and we just don’t see it here. And definition #2 is not what most people think of when they think of “sexism”, they think of #1, and we don't think that even Andrea Dworkin on a bad hair day would see this ad as especially, dangerously “sexist” along the lines of either #1 or #2 above.
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Trying to take this seriously, we searched for “Durex” in the MSU student paper linked to above through their onsite search and a Google site search, and likewise for the MSU health center’s website. The ONLY information we could chase down through Google searching was the “Durex U" website:
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http://www.durexu.com
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You might want to check it out before reading further. If you are over 18, anyway. If you are under 18, the splash page for the website tells you politely you're not old enough to go further. Anyway...
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The website does involve stereotypes, but some stereotyping is inevitable in humor and – especially -- cartoon caricatures. One might ask if the stereotypes in the ad are necessarily negative stereotypes which might lead to justifying, as the definition says, “prejudice or discrimination based on sex”. Saying “yes” to that implies a rather far-out causal relationship where the ad somehow directly reinforces and deepens sexist stereotypes. But the ad doesn’t seem to put women or men in a negative light, and it certainly doesn’t seem to favor one sex over another.
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The biggest problem we see with “Durex U” is that it does not get into any detail about safe sex or communication issues regarding condom use, STDs, pregnancy, etc, which one might imagine it might possibly do – but maybe at the price of being less funny and engaging. Also, as we searched the ‘Durex U’ website we read the contest rules, and basically the only thing that counts in what prize you win is the number of times you enter – once or twice only, it seems. Signing up for the contest gives you one entry, and you get your second entry buying a Durex product with a $2 coupon you get for signing up for the contest. Surprise, that’s what the contest is also about, buying Durex products. We don’t have any problem with that – hey, they’re the sponsor, and most of their products look interesting – but since the promotion is so light on educational content, and all you have to do to enter is fill out a web form and maybe buy a product, it’s worth noting that it seems that what all this is about in the end is a promotion of Durex products.
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Moral: Look at “Durex U” it as what it was meant to be, a funny, interactive ad for condoms and various products related to “safe sex”. Look at student health centers for what they have best to offer: clinical services. And remember: latex condoms and whipped cream don’t mix.
Do you have suggestions for accessing the actual ad that was featured in The State News?
