A Dog Named 'Condom' Has India Rapt

This post below is on www.adage.com - an advertising magazine. I thought that it was funny. Yet, abstinence loses some power when we say, "Abstinence is the way to go... BUT... if you're going to do it anyways, here's a condom." I'm kind of on the line because there are non-Christian people that don't have Christ as their LORD and therefore way of life. So, should I ease their pain and possible consequence of an STD by giving people condoms? Should I support that with my time and money? When I was in Santa Francisco many of my Christian house-mates were involved in programs like these for their internships and they became big believer in this method of ministry. I'm still not sure. I need time to think about it and to what extent I support this or to what extent I don't support this. Here's the article:



New Spot Is Part of a National Anti-AIDS Efforts

Posted by Matthew Creamer on 11.20.08 @ 02:50 PM

Puppies are cute. Condoms are useful in preventing the spread of AIDS. So it only goes to figure that a pup named after prophylactic will help get the word out about safe sex, especially in an Indian culture that's often shy when it comes to talking about these matters.

In a new ad from the country's National AIDS Control Organization, an old woman playing with a puppy asks its owner (and his omniscient parrot, of course) what the dog's name is. "Condom," they say, which she then repeats several times. When the man asks her how she can say that in public, she declares her support for condoms. The tagline, "Jo Samjha Wohi Sikander," translates to "The One Who Understands Is the Winner."



The spot is a cute, weird attempt to get people used to saying and hearing the word "condom." According to Afaqs, the ad is the fourth phase of a highly effective campaign to promote condom use that has also included a contest and a ringtone giveaway. Afaqs quoted one official claiming a 5% increase in condom sales between April and September 2008.

You can find other ads in the campaign here.