Condom brand uses Tinder to warn young Aussies about STIs
A condom brand is riding on the popularity of social media dating app Tinder to educate young Australians about sexually transmitted infections, or STIs.
Hero Condom has embarked on a cheeky campaign to remind the youth about the importance of playing it safe in the world of online dating. The company made fake Tinder profiles inspired by the most common and serious STIs facing Australians: Chlaramdydia, Johnorrhoea, Herpeia, Chadmydia, Gonorrheeta, Herpez, Stephyilis and Sydphilis.
The fake profiles, composed of both males and females whose ages range between 19 and 26, used Facetune-edited selfies of actual people around the world. Each STI bio contains specific symptoms of the infection, using the language commonly used in Tinder, according to the Hero Condom web site.
For this project, Hero Condom collaborated with local artist Aaron Tyler, who is known for redesigning Australia’s banknotes, called Straya Cash. Hero Condom and Tyler hope to shed light on common ‘swipe right’ behaviour of Tinder users, and issue a reminder that “they could be matching with more than they bargained for.”
One profile, called Johnorrhoea, tries to invite attention from Tinder users with this line: “Swipe right if you’re looking for something serious. Infertile kind of serious.” Another profile, named Herpeia, writes, “I can’t believe I’m on this app again.” She then cites the symptoms of her disease, including tingling, burning, intolerable itching and painful blisters. Perhaps to engage other users, she also describes herself as a “Harry Potter nerd.”
Chadmydia, on the other hand, says: “Who's down for a bit of Cervix and Chill?” Meanwhile, Sydphilis writes: “My ideal date would start with a single unusual sore. I’d then spice things up with skin rashes and sores in your mouth, vagina and bum. Romantic much?”
The campaign was launched to coincide with the National Youth Week, an annual celebration of young people throughout Australia that gives them an opportunity to express ideas and views, as well as act on issues that affect their lives.
“Critical to our efforts to reach youth and destigmatise the use of condoms, is to encourage young people that being prepared is actually being sexy,” Hero CMO David Wommelsdorff said in the company’s web site. “Carrying a condom should not be seen as a sign of bravado or promiscuity but rather a symbol that you are in charge of your own sexual health and that of your partner(s).”
Hero Condom’s Tinder project hopes to mirror the success of the “Grim Reaper” campaign in the 1980s. A government initiative to generate awareness on HIV, the “Grim Reaper” made use of shock and horror in a bid to curb the immediate spread of HIV.
Fast forward to today, and health experts are claiming that dating apps such as Tinder are directly associated with the global rise of those infected with STIs. The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV warns that dating apps could lead to an explosion of HIV in the heterosexual population, especially if enough people with untreated STIs change partners quickly, according to a report by the BBC.
