Thank God These Eggplant Condoms Aren't Really A Thing

Eggplant-flavored condoms sound like something no one would ever ask for.

So that's why it was kind of strange when Durex Global announced it's launching a new eggplant condom.

Safe sex is important -- don't get me wrong -- but eggplant-flavored condoms? Really?

#BreakingNews: We're launching an exciting new savoury #condom range - Eggplant flavour! #CondomEmoji pic.twitter.com/idA07EaiXC — Durex Global (@durex) September 5, 2016

Apparently, however, Durex isn't actually going to start selling eggplant condoms. This is all really part of a campaign for there to be a safe-sex themed emoji, given the eggplant emoji is habitually used to represent something that's, well, not an eggplant.

When contacted to confirm if the eggplant condom was really happening, Durex told Mirror Online,

Durex knows there is no place for an [eggplant] when it comes to safe sex. It's just as questionable, in fact, as a decision not to introduce a Safe Sex Emoji to empower young people to talk about sex, safely, in a language they are comfortable with.

Global research commissioned by Durex, released last November, revealed people between ages 18 and 25 are far more comfortable discussing sex when emojis are involved.

Accordingly, Durex started a campaign for there to be a safe-sex themed emoji.

In other words, the eggplant-flavored condoms are a bit of a joke, but they do bring attention to a very serious matter: education and conversation about safe sex.

Back in November, Karen Chisholm, marketing director for Durex USA, reportedly said,

In light of this research, the Durex brand is asking 1 million people to use and share the hashtag #CondomEmoji to represent their support of the creation of the world's first official safe sex emojis by the Unicode Consortium. Emojis of this sort will enable young people to overcome embarrassment around the discussion of safe sex, encourage conversation and raise awareness of the importance of using condoms in protecting against sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV and AIDS.

When you think about it, Durex has a point. Why isn't there a condom emoji?

Citations: Durex is launching a weird new flavour of condom – and nobody can cope (Mirror)