Trojan: Advertising, Truth, or Both

[ydoaPs]

Trojan has recently started a campaign trying to change America's world view in regards to sexuality. Below is their "beliefs".

America is not a sexually healthy nation.

Each year we experience more than 750' date='000 unintended teenage pregnancies

(approximately 40 percent of which end in abortion),1 19 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs),2 and more than 1 billion acts of unprotected sex among single adults. Sixty-five million Americans live with an incurable STI. Yet, despite the proven effectiveness of latex condoms in preventing unintended pregnancy and the transmission of disease, single sexually-active Americans between the ages of 18 and 54 use them in only about 25 percent of their sexual encounters. Why is this happening in America? Clearly, it’s not due to a lack of resources. We have what we need to be sexually healthy: the most advanced health system in the world, low cost ways to control pregnancy and prevent STIs, and a wealth of readily available information. Yet many people do not have access to the health services or the factual information they need to lead healthier, more fulfilling sex lives. The sorry result: our sexual health is poor compared to that of virtually all other Western nations, whose rates of abortion and STIs are substantially lower than those in the United States. Part of the problem lies in our current emphasis on promoting ideology over factual, easily accessible information. Studies show that the typical American becomes sexually active as a teenager, and that nearly 90 percent of Americans support comprehensive sex education in schools, including the provision of information about abstinence and contraception. Yet we have spent more than $1 billion on the promotion of ideologically based “abstinence only” programs, which a recent government-funded study found ineffective at stopping teenagers from having sex. All the while, our country’s high rates of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection continue to threaten public health, disrupt family life, and impose a high societal cost. We’re a sexually active society, but we burden the use of condoms with outdated ideas about promiscuity and “bad intentions.” Sexual content can be found in over 60 percent of prime-time network programming, accompanied by ads for sexual dysfunction and birth control drugs—but not ads for condoms, which are highly restricted, even forbidden, by some networks. It is viewed as responsible to advertise products that help treat incurable STIs like herpes, but not the condoms that could prevent them.

 

Our attitudes, policies, and ways of thinking about sex need to evolve—from the idea that sex is unhealthy or something to be policed to a simple acknowledgment that it is a natural expression of our humanity and intrinsic to our overall well-being. There’s a lot at stake. Americans’ approach to sex helps to color our whole social fabric—it affects the way we live, love, and take care of ourselves and one another.

We’re also at risk of perpetuating unhealthy attitudes about sex and condom usage among future generations and depriving them of the information and positive reinforcement that will help them lead healthier, more fulfilling lives.

America can evolve into a sexually healthy nation. But first, we must redefine sexual health and make it the focus of a new kind of national conversation about sex.

 

Toward Sexual Health

 

Physically, sex is basic to human life. But sexual health goes beyond the physical—a person can’t have overall health without sexual health, and it doesn’t come naturally. It must be learned.

Sexual health is the experience of enjoying our sexuality, both emotionally and

physically, throughout our lives. It encompasses:

• Understanding that we are sexual by nature

• Taking care of our sexual and reproductive systems

• Being able to experience sexual pleasure, satisfaction, and intimacy when each of

us is ready

• Protecting and respecting ourselves and others.

Sex brings our rational, emotional, and biological selves into action, sometimes in conflicting ways. Making sexually healthy decisions requires us to address each of those motivations, whether or not we choose to have sex:

• Free access to information and resources makes educated, rational decisions possible.

• We make good emotional choices when we’re self-aware and communicate with each other.

• Caring for our biological selves requires access to care, protection, and services.

Take away any of these elements, and our ability to lead healthy, fulfilling lives is inhibited. Unfortunately, our current social climate challenges people’s ability to take this holistic view of sex and see themselves as sexual beings.

 

The Challenge

 

There appears to be a marked disconnect between how society approaches sex on a public level and how we deal with it as individuals. Sex is pervasive in our lives: Ninety percent of Americans are sexually experienced before they marry, and 63 percent of high school students have had sex by the 12th grade. Every day, we are surrounded by sexual images, and sex is more prominent in our entertainment and marketing than ever before.

But our personal attitudes about what sexual health really means haven’t kept up with the amount of sex we’re having and seeing.

To shift society’s focus to sexual health, we must recast the current dialogue about sex to one about mutual respect, responsibility, and pleasure. We must wake people up to the idea that valuing themselves means choosing partners who value them—that a responsible approach to sex is a sign of personal integrity.

We need to teach respect for each person’s right to make decisions about when, whether, and how to have sex. We find our own paths through the many issues that surround it: need, love, and desire. Faith, family, and morality. Risk, responsibility, and pleasure.

The issue of protection during sex is often part of those decisions, and it brings out conflicting emotions in men and women. What does it say about our commitment to intimacy? Who is worthy of trust? What does a man intend—what does it say about him—when he carries a condom? When a woman does?

 

Trojan’s “Evolve” campaign

 

To spark discussion about these questions, Trojan has launched a new advertising and public information campaign titled “Evolve.” Using humorous and sometimes pointed imagery, we hope we’ll get men and women thinking about worthiness, self-care, and trust: Does my partner care enough about me, or do I care enough about myself, to use a condom? “Evolve” isn’t about encouraging people to have sex. It’s about making the sex people are having healthier and more enjoyable.

The immediate goal of our “Evolve” campaign is to reframe people’s perceptions about carrying and using condoms. Condom use is integral to all the other rational, emotional, and biological issues that define our sexual health.

Trojan’s message is straightforward: the use of condoms is a positive signal of personal responsibility and an expression of respect and consideration for one another. We want society to see protection and preparedness as a way to make sex healthier, more meaningful, and ultimately more enjoyable. Sharing equally in the decision to use condoms puts men and women on more equal terms for both pleasure and responsibility.

Changing our nation’s dialogue on sexual health won’t be easy, and replacing our current attitudes with healthier ones will take time. There’s a lot of work ahead. As a trusted part of America’s sexual health for generations, Trojan is ready to move the discussion

forward.[/quote']Are they right? Is this more than just a new advertising campaign? If this new "Evolve" campaign is successful, do you think this paradigm shift is in a good direction?

[iNow]

Yes. Dialogue is good. Enough of this two century old puritanical crap that prevents people from having open discussion.

[Mr Skeptic]

Physically, sex is basic to human life. But sexual health goes beyond the physical—a person can’t have overall health without sexual health, and it doesn’t come naturally. It must be learned.

Sexual health is the experience of enjoying our sexuality, both emotionally and

physically, throughout our lives.

 

Does that mean that those who have taken a vow of chastity are unhealthy?

 

Also, choosing a name like Trojan is pretty stupid for an advocacy campaign.

[ydoaPs]

Also, choosing a name like Trojan is pretty stupid for an advocacy campaign.

Trojan has been around long before they started the Evolve campaign.

[iNow]

Does that mean that those who have taken a vow of chastity are unhealthy?

No. Just because one is not having sex does not mean that one cannot have psychological health as pertains to sexuality. However, pushing down and suppressing natural biological urges does make it significantly more difficult to live life without a lot of neuroses. This is often why so many priests have issues with little boys. Too many years of rejecting an evolved desire for sexual activity and resulting in guilt and dissonance manifesting itself in ways counter to accepted norms.

[swansont]

Also, choosing a name like Trojan is pretty stupid for an advocacy campaign.

 

I've always questioned the name Trojan as a condom brand. Remember what happened with the horse?

[Phi for All]

Are they right?

I think so.

Is this more than just a new advertising campaign?

Absolutely, but the benefits of having people look to Trojan as an authoritative advocate of sexual health should be obvious. Most good marketing campaigns are aimed at exploiting a perceived need, but that's not always a bad thing.

If this new "Evolve" campaign is successful, do you think this paradigm shift is in a good direction?

I would love to see more dialogue involving healthy sexual perceptions. I'd like to see several destructive tendencies eradicated from our culture, most particularly the disparity between male/female sexual reputation. Why is a sexually robust male perceived as a stud while a sexually robust female is perceived as a slut?

 

Trojan making more money while advocating sexual health is OK by me.

 

I've always questioned the name Trojan as a condom brand. Remember what happened with the horse?

If Spartan weren't synonymous with practicing great self-denial, it would have been a better choice. They had cooler shields anyway and I think that's the image the condom manufacturers wanted.

[CDarwin]

I've always questioned the name Trojan as a condom brand. Remember what happened with the horse?

 

The Trojans didn't make the horse; the Greeks did.

 

This is often why so many priests have issues with little boys. Too many years of rejecting an evolved desire for sexual activity and resulting in guilt and dissonance manifesting itself in ways counter to accepted norms.

 

I wonder if the percentage of priests who molest boys is really so much greater than the percentage of men in any profession where you have men in a position of authority over lots of young children, or if we just hear a lot more about the priests because it sounds so shocking.

 

Of course, you know, there are more than a few cultures in the world where young boys are given to older men to have sex with and teach. The Etoro people, for example. It's interesting how some cultures deem practices that are expected in other cultures as taboo and signs of mental illness. It's also interesting how traumatic experiences can be in some cultures which to other cultures are seen as rights of passage.

 

That might be relevant to the topic at hand.

[Phi for All]

The Trojans didn't make the horse; the Greeks did.

That's not the... thrust of what swansont's getting at. A seeming act of homage leads to the introduction of an invasive and deadly enemy who destroys you from the inside. Is that what you're looking for in a condom?

[ydoaPs]

That's not the... thrust of what swansont's getting at.

...you clever cookie...

A seeming act of homage leads to the introduction of an invasive and deadly enemy who destroys you from the inside. Is that what you're looking for in a condom?

Now that you mention it...

[CDarwin]

That's not the... thrust of what swansont's getting at. A seeming act of homage leads to the introduction of an invasive and deadly enemy who destroys you from the inside. Is that what you're looking for in a condom?

 

In the actual story the Trojans were just the saps that let the horse in, though. Neither they nor any horse of theirs was responsible for the introduction of any invasive enemies. Now if it were the Greek condom then you'd have a point.

 

Although when I think about it The Trojans did sort of seed the Roman race. I know if that's quite what you want associated with a condom.

[Phi for All]

Now if it were the Greek condom then you'd have a point.

But it's not, and it wasn't called the Greek Horse either. And after experiencing your contentiousness I see why birth control is so important to the people at Trojan.

[iNow]

I wonder if the percentage of priests who molest boys is really so much greater than the percentage of men in any profession where you have men in a position of authority over lots of young children, or if we just hear a lot more about the priests because it sounds so shocking.

Probably it's own thread. However, men in other professions don't generally have the requirement of celebacy... unless, of course, they're married.

 

 

 

Funny how this thread has gone off on tangents due to the Trojan name for a condom. Same wouldn't occur were it Magnum, or Lifestyles, or Durex, or Rough Rider...

[Reaper]

Although when I think about it The Trojans did sort of seed the Roman race. I know if that's quite what you want associated with a condom.

 

That's actually a myth, if you weren't already aware of that.

[CDarwin]

That's actually a myth, if you weren't already aware of that.

 

Now would a man with a name like "Virgil" lie?