Wednesday, April 23, 2014

No Glove, No Love



This humorous ad was shown on French national television, promoting the use of condoms to protect from sexually transmitted infections, specifically HIV/AIDS.  Using no dialogue and two simple words at the conclusion, “protegez-vous” (protect yourself), the commercial effectively and clearly communicates the intended message; use a condom whenever you have sex.  The way in which the message is communicated highlights the idea that condom use is beneficial in every country, by all people wanting to participate in sex.

I believe that this ad is effective because it tells a simple but engaging story.  The viewer is able to glean the important message from the both the animation as well as the entertaining music that is cleverly integrated into the short story.  In this way, the commercial is able to hold the viewer’s attention all the way through the 1:38 long ad.  The effort that was put into designing an engaging and non-offensive short story-like ad truly shows in the way the viewer will likely engage with it as opposed to quickly changing the channel or muting the television.

Thus, I believe that campaigns promoting condom use, safe sex, awareness of sexually transmitted infections, as well as other sexually relevant topics would benefit from the use of media that is engaging to their target audience in this simple manner.


What is your response to this ad? Do you find it more effective than other campaigns you have viewed in the past? Do you think it was inappropriate to broadcast this on national television?

8 comments:

  1. This ad was highly entertaining and seemed to normalize sex and sexuality; especially because this story took place in a public setting promoting a more public dialogue to its audience. This was unlike many American ads that advocate condom use. American ads seem to either sexualize and romanticize sex (ignoring the health benefits to using protection), or they take use a negative theme that warns of the risk of not using a condom. I think that this ad use a more effective approach by promoting the benefits to using a condom, specifically that condom use will be more "attractive" to other sexual partners. Promoting condoms as "attractive" may be more motivating for men than the ads that are more risk focused.

    I am not sure about the appropriateness of this ad for American national television, since American media tends to be more conservative than French media. But maybe American sexual health advocates need to be more radical. Maybe pushing the socially acceptable boundaries will open up a more honest and engaging dialogue.

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  2. This was probably the most effective ad I've seen for condom use and by far the most entertaining. But yeah, good luck getting it through American censorship.The mouth with the swinging tongue that joins in at the end of the clip seems to be promoting condom use with oral sex as well. I wonder what this ad would be like if it were for female condoms though, or any other form of birth control. I think the narrative works so well because it tapped into a common and sympathetic storyline (a dick/guy who chases after women/pussy and at first can't get laid but turns that around). But it's a very heteronormative story line and I also don't know what to think about the vaginas that have heels on. But what an ad! I hope it does make it across the ocean or that American ads start to become more innovative and avoid the romance trap or stop using scare tactic infomercials.

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  3. I think this ad was effective in communicating the message of protecting oneself. I also think it was interestingly hetero-normative, since I didn't notice any representations of homosexual sexual activity in the drawings. This ad contrasts with the majority of ads in that it doesn't foment a fear for not using condoms, instead it wittily and entertainingly conveys the idea that you should use a condom in order to have sex. In relation to it's appropriateness for national television, it might be appropriate in France or in other countries, but I could not see this ad being aired in the U.S. any time soon.

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  4. This ad is probably one of the best ads I've seen for safe sex/condom use. Europe is known to have racy ads that break "American" understanding of what is acceptable on TV (I know that sounds somewhat pretentious). I think it's purpose is expressed effectively: girls will not have sex with you if you do not wear a condom. However, to offer a different opinion, this ad is very hetero-normative. It assumes that the graffiti penis only wants to be inside the graffiti vagina, and the other vaginas as well. Basically, it assumes that men want to have sex with women only in the vagina and want to have sex with more than one woman. These are still ideas from a patriarchy that could have damaging effects on men. Nonetheless, it is still a clever way to influence the public on using protection and how it can be attractive.

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  5. This is definitely one of the best ads I have seen regarding safe sex and condom use. I agree with Tessa that using a public bathroom sets the tone for public dialogue about condom use and while making it funny makes it more laid back and seem approachable. While we say in America that we promote condom use everyone seems surprised when they see Trojan commercials since there are so few commercials that are directly given to the an audience through TV or other popular forms of media. I think that if in America we began to introduce these types of advertisements in main stream media it could have the potential to open a lo of doors for communication about safe sex and condom use. The only back fire I can see from this is from parents who want to shield their children from the idea of sex if they believe strongly in promoting abstinence. However, I believe introducing more safe sex advertisements into the media could be a good information source for adolescents who are denied a safe sex education from parents or schools who only promote abstinence.

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  6. I think that, much like the previous comments, this ad is extremely effective in promoting safe sex and condom use. The use of humor and the entertaining music is an effective technique for holding the audience's attention. Not only does it encourage condom use and the practice of safe sex, but it engages the audience to participate in a sex-positive discourse: it's not that you shouldn't be having sex, you should just be protecting yourself (and your partner) while doing it. Similarly to Luisa, I would be curious to see how this ad would be received in the U.S. where sex, and talking about sex is still very much a taboo. However, considering the commentary that we've made surrounding how sex and sexuality is portrayed in the media and how whether positively (or negatively) received, attention is drawn to things that our peers are talking about, I wonder if this ad, if directed to the right audience, could generate a less tabooed conversation surrounding sex and safe sex practices.

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  7. I agree with a lot of what people are saying regarding the video, especially how it would be viewed here in the US. Just now I was watching it in the library and my friends took double takes and questioned me. I can imagine there being problems with parents and how they would react if their children saw this. Maybe we could start out by showing videos like this in sex education classes in high school, I can see it adding humor to the topic in a productive way and engaging students who sometimes think sex ed is a waste of time, or a blow off class. Even though the video did at the end capture the "no glove, no love" mantra, the beginning felt like a perfect example of what Dr.Fletcher explained in class about women being gate keepers and men being sex driven. Also Connie, the idea that the vagina cartoon had heels on threw me off and with some tweeking I think the video could be ideal.

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  8. This add was probably the best add that I have ever seen for promoting condom use. It drew in my attention and got the message across without using scare tactics or promoting abstinence. I agree with Josie that we should start showing things like this in high school sex ed more often. It certainly gets the point across far better than any lecture that I have ever been given.

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