Sex Is Fun?
Frenzy condom’s tagline: The fun begins in the choosing.
ARE YOU INSANE?! In case you have not noticed, the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country. You do not sell condoms here by saying that.
Right now, I am confused whether I’m saying this as a marketer or as a mother. I’m guessing it’s more of being the overbearing, overly dramatic, over acting, over-everything mother.
Oh well, S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y! What mother in this conservative, traditional Filipino culture would appreciate a condom being marketed so aggressively? What more if that condom is saying that sex is fun? How else am I supposed to understand the line, “the fun begins in choosing” other than sex is fun?
Of course, I know it’s fun. I am not a frigid idiot.
But I, the mother of a hormonal 15-year-old teen, do not want her daughter to know sex is fun. I prefer for her to think sex is a plague that has come to spite us humans. Yes, this is what single parenthood has reduced me to: bitter and paranoid. And we number by the millions.
Have you seen their TVC? It appeals to the late teens to young adults market. I appreciate the intent of the campaign and I applaud their bravery to take on the powerful Roman Catholic Church. But, please, do not tell my child to go to our local 7-11 and choose an orange condom because the fun of sex begins in choosing the right condom color. There is fun in choosing shoes and clothes. There is no fun in teenage sex. It spells doom. Mine.
Here I am going hoarse from explaining to my daughter the responsibilities of sex and these people go ahead and destroy it. Whatever happened to responsibility? You can be responsible and still have fun, you know. I wish your tagline said that as well. Instead, it just said sex is fun. Period. This is how the Philippines has become overpopulated. Because we have careless marketers.
I have nothing against sex. I do not demand nor expect my daughter to remain pure and virginal until she gets married. I may wish that but I am also a practical parent. You can only do so much and, then, hope you’ve raised them well. In the end, that is all I have: the hope that I have indeed raised her well.
So I do not appreciate some condom company telling my daughter who is watching anime to go ahead and have sex because it’s fun. Could we at least be a bit responsible in our advertising, people? Have you not noticed? We have an abundance of tweens who no longer remember they are tweens. Instead, they have deluded themselves into thinking they are adults. What do they know about being adults? It’s not a whole lot of fun, I tell ‘ya. Adulthood is overrated.
Sometimes, I have no conscience in conceptualizing a marketing campaign. But I do know when I am being irresponsible. Engaging in a market battle is one thing. Deliberately ruining innocent lives through sheer irresponsibility is another matter altogether.
If they were targeting adults, I wouldn’t mind so much. But you are targeting young adults who are just beginning to discover the world and themselves. We as marketers cannot be so irresponsible in handing them a loaded gun without telling them the consequences of firing it. Pun not intended, by the way.
What would I have done? Added a disclaimer that warns them engaging in sex carries a huge responsibility. I don’t know yet at this moment how I would’ve worded it but I assure you I would’ve found a way to include the word “responsible” into that tagline.
Ultimately, sex is really fun when, as with all things in life, you exercise it with great responsibility. Whatever happened to responsible marketers? Drank too much coffee, I suppose.
ARE YOU INSANE?! In case you have not noticed, the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country. You do not sell condoms here by saying that.
Right now, I am confused whether I’m saying this as a marketer or as a mother. I’m guessing it’s more of being the overbearing, overly dramatic, over acting, over-everything mother.
Oh well, S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y! What mother in this conservative, traditional Filipino culture would appreciate a condom being marketed so aggressively? What more if that condom is saying that sex is fun? How else am I supposed to understand the line, “the fun begins in choosing” other than sex is fun?
Of course, I know it’s fun. I am not a frigid idiot.
But I, the mother of a hormonal 15-year-old teen, do not want her daughter to know sex is fun. I prefer for her to think sex is a plague that has come to spite us humans. Yes, this is what single parenthood has reduced me to: bitter and paranoid. And we number by the millions.
Have you seen their TVC? It appeals to the late teens to young adults market. I appreciate the intent of the campaign and I applaud their bravery to take on the powerful Roman Catholic Church. But, please, do not tell my child to go to our local 7-11 and choose an orange condom because the fun of sex begins in choosing the right condom color. There is fun in choosing shoes and clothes. There is no fun in teenage sex. It spells doom. Mine.
Here I am going hoarse from explaining to my daughter the responsibilities of sex and these people go ahead and destroy it. Whatever happened to responsibility? You can be responsible and still have fun, you know. I wish your tagline said that as well. Instead, it just said sex is fun. Period. This is how the Philippines has become overpopulated. Because we have careless marketers.
I have nothing against sex. I do not demand nor expect my daughter to remain pure and virginal until she gets married. I may wish that but I am also a practical parent. You can only do so much and, then, hope you’ve raised them well. In the end, that is all I have: the hope that I have indeed raised her well.
So I do not appreciate some condom company telling my daughter who is watching anime to go ahead and have sex because it’s fun. Could we at least be a bit responsible in our advertising, people? Have you not noticed? We have an abundance of tweens who no longer remember they are tweens. Instead, they have deluded themselves into thinking they are adults. What do they know about being adults? It’s not a whole lot of fun, I tell ‘ya. Adulthood is overrated.
Sometimes, I have no conscience in conceptualizing a marketing campaign. But I do know when I am being irresponsible. Engaging in a market battle is one thing. Deliberately ruining innocent lives through sheer irresponsibility is another matter altogether.
If they were targeting adults, I wouldn’t mind so much. But you are targeting young adults who are just beginning to discover the world and themselves. We as marketers cannot be so irresponsible in handing them a loaded gun without telling them the consequences of firing it. Pun not intended, by the way.
What would I have done? Added a disclaimer that warns them engaging in sex carries a huge responsibility. I don’t know yet at this moment how I would’ve worded it but I assure you I would’ve found a way to include the word “responsible” into that tagline.
Ultimately, sex is really fun when, as with all things in life, you exercise it with great responsibility. Whatever happened to responsible marketers? Drank too much coffee, I suppose.
6 Comments
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Comment by Michael Santos on December 24, 2007 at 10:30pm
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I am posting the letter from a mother who works closely with DKT Philippines. Attached is her response to yur blog:
Dear Sunny,
My name is Emma Sierra. I work with DKT Philippines, the NGO that advocates reproductive health and family planning, and just like you, i have a teenage daughter.
As a mother, I completely share your concern over how our children must deal with issues of their sexuality and sexual behavior; but deal with them they must, whether we like it or not.
Some, like yourself, will disagree with the Frenzy condom TV commercial, and that I respect.
Moving forward, I propose viewing the the Frenzy commercial in the context of realities reflected in the 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study 3 conducted by the U.P. Population Institute:
-- 23% of young people in the Philippines, 15-24 years old, have had premarital sex. This means 4.32 million young people out of the total estimated population of 89 million. They are not mere statistics, they are "kids" just like your and my daughters.
-- Only 20% of their first sexual experiences, and 25% of their most recent sexual experiences, are protected. This means that about 3.45 million young Filipinos had exposure to risk of pregnancy and / or acquiring sexually transmitted infections on their first sexual experience, and a great number face similar risks during subsequent sexual experiences.
-- Up to 750,000 women undergo induced, illegal abortions in the Philippines annually. Approximately a third or 225,000 of them are young women.
-- More than half of those who have had an abortion were not using any family planning methods, and among those who were, three-quarters were using rhythm or withdrawal.
-- 73% of young Filipinos believe there is no chance of them getting HIV / AIDS, even while all known transmission routes for HIV exist in the country.
-- 44.3 % of all pregnancies in the country are either unwanted or preferred later.
Personally, I find these realities disturbing, frightening and worrisome, and there is a need to address them. We, of course, have our personal opinions and sensitivities. But in light of these realities, perhaps if the Frenzy commercial is able to promote condom use among sexually active young people in the country, it would serve a useful purpose.
All the best,
Emma Sierra
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Comment by Abdol Rahim Mirza on December 26, 2007 at 6:29am
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The freshest story in the subject is pregnancy of Jamie Lynn Spears, who is only in age of 16. Some peoples blamed her sister Britney while others show the sorrow for losing the innocence of her childhood.
As usual, there was third party that respects the case as another fancy fiction!
Is the father of this ‘fetus’ a wolf or only a rabbit?
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Comment by Sunny Cervantes on December 28, 2007 at 5:56am -
Hi Michael,
I read the reply from Emma a few weeks ago. Just didn't have time to post my reply until late last week.
I think Emma misunderstood my post. I wasn't against the condom commercial of Frenzy. I was against the tagline it used. A little more responsibility should have been exercised in the creation of that tagline.
Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy is an example of why we as marketers should exercise a bit more responsibility in how we send out our messages. While Jamie Lynn's pregnancy probably doesn't have anything to do with any advertising - still, I believe that we should be careful in the kind of messages we send to young people.
It's one thing to promote the use of condoms which I support fully. Quite another to tell these young adults that all it takes to be responsible while having fun is buying the right condom. To me, sexual responsibility means a little bit more than just buying the right condom.
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Comment by Sunny Cervantes on December 28, 2007 at 5:59am
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@ Abdol
Well, judging from the latest tabloid news, the father of Jamie Lynn's baby seems to be quite human. And all of a wise 18-year-old. LOL!
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Dear Sunny, here is an article on the subject in Washington Post. Enjoy reading.
Learning From Jamie Lynn and Juno
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/25/AR2007122500865.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns
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Talking about marketers and workers in ad industry, they have had a wrong idea that ‘sex sells’. On this matter, you will find them (and TV series) promote adultery manner among not only teens but also all different age levels. They all are enjoying the amount of ‘dirty money’ even they never helped to increase sales of targeted product!
Fun in all human activities, could be realized only with responsibility in mind.
Thank you once again.