Put me out of my misery, is this a joke? If it's just marketing ("lol a condom delivery app!") why is the article here reporting it as fact, or are they in on the joke to. I'm so confused.

It's pretty easy to see a strategy that says after the initial worldwide buzz of a Dubai launch dies down that the app quietly shuts down after 3 to 6 months and then launches in Vegas, Bangkok, UK, etc. to drive local buzz there.

Given the multitude of health and social problems that not using condoms brings to people gay and straight, I'd suggest it's high time that they start doing this in more (non-gay) bars and nightclubs.

For the cost of a small piece of rubber, society can reduce unwanted pregnancies, expensive abortions (20¢ for a bulk-purchase condom vs. hundreds of dollars for terminations), HIV transmission and all sorts of other sexually transmitted diseases.

As preventative public health measures go, providing condoms free in bars and nightclubs seems like a sensible strategy.

Condoms are available for free at most health clinics.

I would guess that in most cases they are not used because they make sex less fun rather than because they are unavailable.

Yes, but they're not that expensive to buy in bulk.

> I would guess that in most cases they are not used because they make sex less fun rather than because they are unavailable.

There are times when you just don't have one. My ex was a bit paranoid and would never have sex without a condom, so less fun was a non-issue. You can't safely store a condom next to your body, so keeping one in your pocket is sub-optimal. You can't leave them in your car for the same reasons. You can keep them stocked at home, but sometimes you end up at "her place" and maybe she ran out or you forgot to bring more over. Sometimes you go on a weekend trip and forget to pack them, but only discover this at midnight. Sometimes stuff happens, and in that moment, people will pay a lot to have one.

I used to volunteer in an improv troupe sponsored by the local family services organisation. Part of that was doing issue-oriented shows, AIDS education, that sort of thing. We quickly learned that you can only hand out condoms to people in “serious mode”—if you do it right after a comedy sketch, there are slippery balloon animals on the horizon.

“…they make sex less fun…”

Depending on the individual, of course. I like condoms because they mitigate some of the sensitivity from multiple rounds.

Funny you mention gay people on an article about condoms. The industry likes to ignore our existence.

Sure, having police officers show up at night won't draw any attention whatsoever.

I'm aware that what I'm saying isn't universally accepted, so disclaimer: yes, it is my personal opinion that it's fine for underage kids to have sex as long as they use protection.

If one is going to be having sex outside of such a relationship (by which I had meant "when one is not in such a relationship" although I suppose it would apply to cheating too), one should be wearing condoms, yes? That's the part I was talking about, and I don't see how it's the opposite of what people should be doing.

It is not a place that is easy to navigate by any measure, regardless of the hour. Durex has their job cut out for them. The streets of Sharadiya, for example, are not a place where I would enjoy to be doing deliveries at 2am. Granted, other cities (London, Vegas, Phuket, Barcelona) will have different behavioral mechanics for this sort of business, but that misses the mark altogether.

The main point is this: a shift in paradigm is what's needed regarding sexual health and protection. Seeing condoms as something that people will wait for (for up to 1 hour, no less) before they engage in sex is a catastrophic bag of fail.

The whole point of prevention is —well— being prepared, ahead of time, on the ready.

A monthly condom delivery service like Mexico's http://rubberit.co is something I can see growing on better footing. It's sustainable in that it retains clientele through membership, it is discreet in that it allows the user to place any name as the sender, and it is also socially engaging because for every condom they sell they donate another one to rural and disadvantaged communities.

I mean, good luck to Durex. Their promo is bad ass. But I can see their project folding by mid-year. (Sorry for the long rant.)

A great way for the condom delivery guy to approach the customer would be to pretend to be a friend you were hanging out with early that's returning something you forgot at a bar :)

[EDIT: fixed an embarrassing typo]