Would a Condom Emoji Make it Easier to Talk About Safe Sex?

In time for World AIDS Day on December 1, Durex has rolled out a cheeky ad campaign calling on a condom emoji to promote safe sex. 

The ad, according to Mashable, was created after a survey commissioned by the condom company found that only a third of people ages 16 to 25 actually discuss safer sex. Worse, nearly half did not consider HIV infection to be a danger to them or their friends. 

The survey also found that 80 percent of young people found it easy to express themselves using emojis and that they regularly used them when discussing sex. In addition, 84 percent felt more comfortable talking about sex by using emojis. 

Durex is hoping to get 1 million people to use and share #CondomEmoji to show their support for a safe sex emoji by Unicode Consortium (the group that makes eggplant sexting possible). 

"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, including HIV and AIDS," said Karen Chisholm, Durex USA's marketing director in a statement. 

Watch the ad below.