The practice of safe sex has become somewhat complacent during the past year and that's not a good thing, which is why MTV launched its new campaign advocating safe sex, taking a humorous approach.
The video features a guy in a mermaid suit with a voiceover of a girl saying that her boyfriend only likes to have sex by the sea and asks if they should use a condom -- she forgot to mention her boyfriend also likes to dress-up as a greasy mermaid. Afterwards a voice of a guy tells her, "Use it dick. Sex only with a condom."
MTV is trying to approach the issue of safer sex in a fashion that's more relevant in today's youth culture, which is something that most PSAs about safe sex fail to do.
Humdinger Mermaid PSAs
MTV's Mermaid-Themed Condom Commercials Hits All the Right Spots
Trend Themes
1. Humorous Approach to Safe Sex Advocacy - Using humor as a means to promote safe sex practices is a trend that can disrupt traditional safe sex advocacy methods.
2. Mermaid-themed Campaigns - More ad campaigns featuring mermaids may become popular due to the success of MTV's Mermaid-themed condom commercials.
3. Youth-relevant Psas - Creating public service announcements that are relevant to youth culture can become a trend for encouraging safer sex practices.
Industry Implications
1. Advertising - Advertising agencies can use the success of MTV's mermaid-themed condoms campaign as inspiration to create humor-filled ads to promote safe sex.
2. Entertainment - Entertainment companies can start to produce similar ads to MTV's mermaid-themed campaign in collaboration with safe sex organizations.
3. Public Health - Public health organizations can take a cue from MTV's approach and target youth culture with more engaging and relevant campaigns to promote safe sex practices.