On Tuesday 14 August, the Facebook page belonging to Manchester club night promoters, Bollox, prompted mass outrage over a condom advert on a billboard in Manchester’s Gay Village.
The 'Love Sex Hate Condoms' message - in 6 foot high letters - is irresponsible and disrespectful to a community that has been at the forefront of promoting condom use for over 25 years.
The offending slogan for Skyn Condoms looming over Chorlton Street in the heart of Manchester gay community, read ‘Love Sex, Hate Condoms’.
In the run up to Manchester Pride Festival along with ongoing efforts within the community to raise awareness of safe sex, it rattled more than a few virtual cages.
Given Skyn’s USP is that their condoms are extra thin to the point the user will ‘feel like you’re wearing nothing’ you can see where the advertising team were trying to go with the campaign. What perhaps they didn’t think of, was the advert in context.
John Stewart of Manchester PrideAs Manchester Pride chief executive John Stewart said: “I think the problem is with the negative connotations at the heart of the advert. We’ve spent decades trying to promote safe sex among gay and bisexual men and HIV awareness. I agree we should be promoting condoms but anyone glancing at that billboard is not going to take that message away from it. In fact I have to say the ‘hate condoms’ line is inappropriate anywhere.”
The following Facebook status update by Grahame Robertson from the Lesbian and Gay Foundation prompted Bollox to take the anti-Skyn campaign viral.
Grahame posted: ‘Stupidly irresponsible, massive billboard in the middle of Canal Street. Condoms that feel like skin? Great. No problem with that. But the 'Love Sex Hate Condoms' message - in 6 foot high letters - is irresponsible and disrespectful to a community that has been at the forefront of promoting condom use for over 25 years.’
Feeling empowered to make a stand, Bollox even started their own competition for Facebook friends to come up with ‘the best HIV awareness caption for us to graffiti over’ the offending vast poster and thus win free entrance to the Bollox Pride event.
Luckily, that wasn’t necessary as before the Bollox protestors had chance to deface the ad Shenton Homes, that owns the Grade 2 listed building, took charge with the backing of the Lesbian and Gay Foundation and Cllr Kevin Peel.
Colin Shenton of the Shenton GroupColin Shenton said: ‘I have just finished an emergency meeting with the media agency which included calls with Skyn and their ad agency. I am pleased to tell you that that banner is coming down tomorrow and will be replaced before the Pride Big Weekend with a new ad which is more appropriate. Great news, I'm glad you brought it to my attention and that, with Skyn's full co-operation, the ad is being replaced at their cost.’
The public's ability to coordinate such a massive and rapid response is a sign of the times; a time where people spend more than 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook and word spreads quicker than wildfire.
Thus, since this article was originally published, the billboard has been replaced with one of Skyn’s more ‘generic’ campaigns at a reported cost to the company of £12,000. And all because of158 comments and 220 likes on one Facebook page.
What a difference a day makes.
Skyn's new billboard
