NEW DELHI: On the occasion of World AIDS Day, sexual wellbeing brand, Durex, have announced ‘Umbrella with Raindrops,’ as the overwhelming choice in a global poll, to find the safe sex emoji.
Shockingly, almost half of 16-35-year-olds think that HIV is not something that could ever affect them, despite the fact that every 30 seconds a young person is infected with HIV.
Whilst more than 60 percent of young people surveyed admitted to being uncomfortable discussing safe sex, 72 percent of respondents surveyed, admitted they found it easier to express emotions using emojis and more than three-quarters admitted that they use emojis to discuss sex and relationships.
The unveiling of safe sex emoji is the latest move in Durex’s ongoing #CondomEmoji campaign, which calls for Unicode to put a safe sex emoji on every smartphone in the world in order to help young people communicate about safe sex more easily.
To date, the #CondomEmoji campaign has trended on both Twitter and Facebook with supporters from over 160 countries backing the movement and has seen high-profile support on social media from global organisations including the International Planned Parenthood Association, Terrence Higgins Trust and New Zealand AIDS Foundation.
Durex hopes that the popularity of the safe sex emoji will demonstrate what the nine out of 10 surveyed confirmed; that a safe sex emoji would be a step towards empowering young people to talk about safe sex - and encourage Unicode to reconsider their decision to reject the original application.
Durex Global Category Director, Volker Sydow, said, “Until Unicode recognise the need for a Condom Emoji and reverse their decision to put a safe sex emoji on every smartphone across the globe, we must continue to demonstrate that there is the desire for such a thing.”
The campaign has also received the support of the International Planned Parenthood Association (IPPF), with Director General Tewodros Melesse adding, “Safe sex awareness continues to be an important global challenge. We support Durex’s campaign in helping make young people think about protection. On World AIDS Day we will be backing this effort to help raise awareness of the risks associated with unprotected sex.”