Have you ever seen Baingan ka bharta being made?
If that’s the image of eggplant we have, then Durex’s latest announcement that it will now sell eggplant-flavoured condoms could be a bit unsettling. One wouldn’t dare touch those with that image in mind.
Besides, who likes eggplant flavour?
No one does, and neither does Durex. The condom-giant isn’t actually going to sell eggplant condoms – it’s a marketing gimmick to get the attention of the Unicode Consortium to make a safe-sex emoji.
Slate reports,
Last year, you see, Durex commissioned global research that found that 80 percent of 18 to 25 year olds "find it easier to express themselves using emojis and more than half of respondents regularly using emojis when discussing sex," and that 84 percent of the same demographic "said they feel more comfortable talking about sex using emojis." Durex then called for the creation of safe sex emojis. At the time, Karen Chisholm, Marketing Director of Durex USA, said, "Emojis of this sort will enable young people to overcome embarrassment around the discussion of safe sex, encourage conversation and raise awareness of the importance of using condoms in protecting against sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV and AIDS.
And so, as Mirror Online found out, Durex has started a campaign to convince emoji makers to go for a safe-sex emoji. "It’s just as questionable, in fact, as a decision not to introduce a Safe Sex Emoji to empower young people to talk about sex, safely, in a language they are comfortable with,” a Durex spokesperson told Mirror Online.
But that shouldn’t stop Twitter from having fun, right? Users online had a field day, replete with puns and jokes. Here are some desi ones.
#Eggplant flavoured #condoms? @DurexIndia what's next? Butter chicken? Beer? Old Monk? Chawanprash? #durex
— This Girl (@ThisGirl_OnTop) September 5, 2016
It's only ironic to introduce this flavour because eventually what Durex is meant to do is to avoid planting the egg.
— N (@ennwhee) September 5, 2016
So if you do it really rough and hard, does the flavor evolve into Baingan ka bharta? @DurexIndia #eggplant
— Ankur Singh (@TheSinghAnkur) September 6, 2016
The funny thing is eggplant itself tastes like rubber. So Durex has launched condom flavoured condoms. Good job.
— Sahodaran Mustafa (@sidin) September 5, 2016
Minister of vegetables welcomed at the headquarter of Durex on the launch of new range of vegetable condoms.(2016) pic.twitter.com/WCwKYwwgYH
— History of India (@RealHistoryPic) September 5, 2016
When you slip in an eggplant condom from Durex, you might as well name your dick as Baingan ka Bharta.
— Wahiyat PJs (@Wahiyat_PJs) September 6, 2016