For those of you who thought baingan sex was going to become an actual thing after Durex Global announced their new eggplant-flavoured condom — relax, it was a hoax!
But all jokes and aubergine puns aside, Durex confused the hell out of Twitter with their announcement on Monday, but for a very serious reason. The move was in response to the decision of emoji maker Unicode to turn down Durex’s proposal for a condom emoji.
An aubergine-flavoured condom sure sounds ridiculous, but Durex picked this specific vegetable for the role it plays in the conversation around sex. Confused? Allow us to elaborate.
In the absence of an actual emoji for condoms, the instant messaging generation has resorted to using the aubergine emoji (perhaps owing to its striking resemblance to a certain reproductive organ?).
A spokesperson for Durex Global said:
Following Unicode’s decision not to approve an official condom emoji, leaving young people without a symbol to signify safe sex, this product launch comes from Durex to acknowledge the aubergine’s place in the language of sex and hope that this new product will help empower young people to put safe sex back on the menu.
While an aubergine obviously can’t replace condoms in the conversation around safe sex, it brings to light a vacuum wherein young people aren’t equipped to talk of safe sex in the language they so often use, that of emojis.
Durex is now urging smartphone operating system developers and social media platforms to introduce the “official safe sex emoji” themselves. The hashtag #CondomEmoji has already been around with the launch of Durex’s Safe Sex Emoji Campaign in 2015.
Take a look at Durex’s take on the much-needed emoji.
Not only is it an important conversation, but it also looks like an incredibly fun emoji to use, to be perfectly honest!
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)