Just like the recently prosperous condom ringtone by the BBC World Service Trust, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health harnessed the power of the Internet and new media: They created and distributed Catch the Sperm, a 3.4 mb PC game to be played for free.

When the original CTS was released in 2001 it received worldwide coverage and more than 18 million downloads from 104 countries. 2002 the game was donwloaded more than 3 million times.

Several new Catch the Sperm versions were released subsequently to satisfy the fans’ appetite: Catch the Sperm 2, Carnival, Summer and Winter/Christmas (during the the UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal even a football theme was added).

What really made this campaign so successful is the simple gameplay.

Catch the Sperm Gameplay

Your mouse controls a “condom cannon” that’s supposed to hit all the nasty little opponents like viruses and bacteria. If you manage to hold everyone off for 90 seconds, you win (not as easy as it sounds though).

A player loses 50 fifty points each time that his or her condom gun is fired, but players can accumulate 100 points for snaring sperm cells.

Additional points may be gathered by trapping viruses, bonus points for snaring special sperm. You’re allowed to let sperms slip, but viruses end your game instantly.

Now that you know all there’s to know about this little gem, let me introduce you to the various themes. Clicking on the pictures will also send you to the official download page for Catch the Sperm.

Catch the Sperm I

Catch the Sperm II

Catch the Sperm Carnival

Catch the Sperm Summer

Catch the Sperm Winter/Christmas

This classic is available from the Swiss Government until today and worth downloading. My only regret is that my request for an iPhone or web version modification was turned down. It would’ve been a perfect summer Appstore addition.

To make your Oscar-winning entrails just follow the steps outlined below from the shopping list to have them dry in your shower.

By the way: Condoms are also the ideal instrument for a cheap bloodshed effect. As a matter of fact many Indian movie makers use them for action films. The condoms just need to be hidden from the viewer, filled with crimson-pigmented liquid and are then ready to be stabbed.

Here you go:

1 – Shopping List

To make entrails takes very few supplies. Your shopping list looks like this.

• Unlubricated condoms
• KY Jelly
• Food coloring
• Press and Seal wrap
• Fake blood

2 – Filling the Condoms

Start by filling the condoms with KY Jelly. You’ll need about one tube of KY per condom. Add a little bit of food coloring, but don’t worry about mixing it evenly. I use 1 drop green to 3 drops red, personally. Tie each condom off making a whole bunch of individual of links.

Note: The KY usually makes really impressive farting noises.

3 – The Detritus

I had a student helping me make these and she took some of the supplies home to finish up. Her boyfriend came in while the room looked like this.

I think he was sad that he hadn’t been invited over earlier.

And you should see the people at the checkout line when you buy 20 boxes of KY jelly. It’s a fun job.

4 – On the Wrap

Lay the condoms out on the Press and Seal. Normally, I don’t get specific about a brand, but this stuff is great for intestines. Because it’s self sticking, it adheres well to itself. The slight pebbly texture and the translucents can pass as viscera.

Notice how the condoms are all different colors. That helps create the illusion of food passing through.

5 – Deckle the Edge

Deckle the edges of wrap so that you eliminate a crisp line. Straight edges almost never occur in nature and certainly not in the human body. Making the edge uneven also means that you’ll have varying degrees of overlap on the wrap so the opacity will vary.

6 – Finishing Up

Dip the entrails into stage blood, most of which has the lovely property of looking wet even when it’s dry. Do test this and be aware that humidity will slow the drying down and make them sticky. Once they’ve dried, they’ll look wet and freshly extracted but without all that messy residue.

If you leave them drying in the shower, as I did, I highly recommend that you leave a note so that no one is startled upon finding them.

Thanks and via Mary.

What makes Japan so fascinating when it comes to condoms, is their incredible drive to innovation and creativity (we’ve covered the Astrology and Junko Mizuno condoms recently).

Also much of the technology used by condom manufacturers today was invented by Japanese companies. This is still true today: A super thin polyurethane condom was just released recently, which probably also is one of the most expensive ones on the market: 2000 Yen (22 USD) for 4 pieces.

So here is how it all got started:

Translated and written by Jay Yoshikawa

Ancient Egypt

It is believed that the condom was invented in ancient Egypt where tribesmen wore cylindrical sacks to protect their members from insect bites.

15th Century

Italian anatomist Gabriele Falloppio documented his method of wrapping the glans penis with linen sheaths to prevent syphilis.

17th Century

Goat intestines were used for pregnancy prevention in the region of Condom, France. Some theories, however, suggest that the word condom came from an English court physician named “Doctor Condom” who, hinted by gas bladders in fish, allegedly invented a type of silk-made glans sack for King Charles II of England to answer the king’s desire to avoid unprepared pregnancies with his lovers.

1840 (During Japan’s Edo Period)

Condoms made by rubber came on the scene in Europe. In Japan, a product that was described as “Apparatus to avoid pregnancy” appeared in “Yotsumeya”, an early prototype of store catalogue in Japan. It is believed to be a spin-off of silk-made glans sack.

1909 (Meiji Period)

“Heart Beauty”, Japan’s first domestically manufactured condom brand, came to the market. At the time, people commonly believed that losing full sexual feel was unavoidable if one wanted to get away from venereal diseases.

1950s

The view of general public about latex condoms gradually began to switch from a disease-avoider to a contraceptive device. Demand for condoms increased.

Nowadays most people acknowledge latex condom as a convenient way for both contraception and STD prevention. Historically, however, condoms began as a probable solution to avoid venereal diseases.

The notion that one must sacrifice full sexual sensation if one wishes to prevent from getting sick, has not really changed for the last 50 years or so though. Well, one must realize that the quality of latex condoms was only substantially improved since the 1950s, and the condom in its modern form, better or worse, still has a short history in this great saga of humanity.

1. Ready to fight?

Today the condom is a great success not only in pregnancy/disease prevention, but also in the show business. Condoms are sometimes used in those killing scenes you see at the theater or on TV.

They are an affordable way to create a bloodshed effect. Actors hide a condom filled with crimson-pigmented liquid, ready to be stabbed. Sounds like an easy piece? Not as easy as you may think, imagine if the intruding samurai pierced the wrong spot? Ouch…careful, careful.

2. Amidst the heat of the Cold War…

As part of Soviet’s psychological warfare, the Russians at one time sent custom-orders for horse-sized condoms in a big quantity to the USA in attempt to undermine the Americans. (On the other hand, we do admit that we the Japanese lost both the war and our inner confidence to the Americans after seeing THEIR condoms after World War Two.)

The Americans obviously realized the Soviet’s gimmick, and counteracted by sending all those condoms with the stamp “Medium Size” on each shipment box.

3. Japan today

A British medical journal published an article “The glorious Japanese condom” in 1973. According to the article, “The Japanese use 450,000 gross (1 gross = 144 piece) of condoms per month, enough to prevent pregnancy in 780 million acts of intercourse a year.

If all these condoms were jointed together, they could circle the earth four times.”

However, over the last ten years, the consumption level of condoms is only 60% compared to its peak period. With this in mind, cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) reported have kept increasing over the years. So as always, be safe and use a condom.

Sincere thanks and credits go to Jay and Fuji.

Which one is it going to be?

A banana, rocket, submarine or a microphone condom?

Or rather a zeppelin, full beer glass, dolphin or cucumber condom?

I tend to the full beer glass condom just because it makes no sense at all. To see more details for these creations stay tuned as I’ll cover them in more detail later on.

Though probably the most important question remains: will they ever hit your local store? Patents usually are a few years ahead, so only time will tell.

Other older hilarious and more or less serious patents can be viewed in 60+ Incredible Patents You Don’t Want to Miss.

This time there are no commercial interests behind the creation of the graphics. It’s just a work by graphic designer Mauricio Estrella uploaded to his deviantART profile… Actually he states he doesn’t have anything to do with Apple or condoms. “In fact, I don’t use condoms”, he says.

Read on after the jump to get to the functions of this fantasy device.

Here’s a function or two:

Easy to install - The installation follows the standard steps. If you ever have a problem with it, check if you meet the minimal requirements.

Or,

Flexible External HDD - Why the hell would you need this feature? We don’t know, but we put it! Available in 8GB and 16GB versions.

These and more can be found right at the source. Enjoy.

I can imagine, however, that the newest one I’ve come across may challenge some people’s tolerance (not mine for sure…) and I’m interested to see what our readership thinks about it.

Let me introduce to you: the Doll House LifeStyles Condom Box by tiny details.

Tiny details is the company behind dozens of miniature products and also behind the mentioned miniature LifeStyles Condom Box. And here’s how they’re produced:

“Tiny Details is a home assembly company that creates beautiful and realistic dollhouse miniature accessories. All of our products are assembled in the U. S. A. by people like you who work in their homes at their leisure. Our products are carried by the finest dollhouse miniature retailers.“

So in fact if you think this is a great item, you can actually get in touch with them and assemble condom boxes yourself and make a little money out of it.

But back to the product. Tiny details was kind enough to send a few samples my way. See the pictures below.

Miniature Condom Boxes and iPhone Headphone
The iPhone headphone shows the proportions.

LifeStyles Miniature Detail

You can find the item in their store filed under “Slightly Risque“. The scale is 1/12. Now the main question remains. Would you put a condom box in your dollhouse?

Thanks to Kris, Image Credit Doll House Annetta 82

Back during the Olympic Games we reported about the massive condom use and the incredible viral ads by Elasun that were big in the western blogosphere and media.

Health officials distributed a 100′000 condoms in the Beijing Olympic village and another 300′000 in Beijing Hotels. These condoms were sponsored by the organizers and obviously produced in China. GOBON is one of the biggest Chinese condom producers and is also one of the largest condom supplier for the United Nations Fund of Poplation.

Luckily we got hold of an example to show to the rest of the world.

The Olympic Condom Cover
The upper end where you close the cover is heart shaped (hard to see because of the scan)

The Olympic Condom Wrapper

Now you’re in the know. Vancouver officials for the next Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver have already announced the supply of condoms. Each athlete will allegedly get 18 condoms.

Sincere thanks to Hanna for sending this in

The ad was done by Süperfad for Durex USA. Let’s just quickly dive in and let the creators do the talking. Scroll down the article to see the Get it On Video in full length.

Perhaps it would be best to call this an anti-viral, if only for the disease stopping potential. The new film for Durex, synonymous with the word condom in the UK, takes a decidedly comedic twist (um…position?) on encouraging the use of its products in the US. To create the animated frolic, agency, Fitzgerald+CO turned to the talent of Superfad who eagerly embraced the opportunity.

Above is a still taken from the video. It shows the dogs checking out each other in a typical fashion. Here are the final results:

Durex Get it On Viral

Get it On Outtake 1

Get it On Outtake 2

Get it On Outtake 3

The Short Story Behind

The ad is originally based on a shoot by photographer Arian Camilleri, whose excellent characters were ported into the durex short above (which were probably inspired by the earlier Durex Play) ads.

All picture credits Arian Camilleri and video credits Süperfad.

However, as someone pointed out, it also protects its user from pregnancy (the star indicating birth?) and sexually transmitted diseases (the cross meaning death?). An interesting way to show these facts on a wrapper!

The packaging is really sweet and would it not be for the for the references Rubber Pack and Latex Condoms on the front you’d probably take it for real.

That’s what the producers thought and hence they had to make it clear on the packaging that no one would actually attempt to drink the condoms. No joke:

• Unnecessary to refrigerate.
• Keep it in dry place.
• Keep out of reach of children
• Do not drink

Juicy Queen Range

Orange, Strawberry, Melon, Lemon, Grape

Do not drink

Noticed the nutritional facts at the bottom?

Calories 0%

Colesterol 0%

Stimulation 100%

Excitement 100%

Image Credits Effie. Y.

By doing so I’d like to present the cute japanese Astrology Condoms. They are marketed by a very small company called Yamashita Latex. The company is so small that they don’t even have a website. I haven’t seen them available anywhere in western countries, but they’re a joy to look at anyways.

Which one is your favorite?

Astrology Condoms from Japan

Aquarius January-February

Pisces February-March

Aries March-April

Taurus April-May

Gemini May-June

Cancer June-July

Leo July-August

Virgo August-September

Libra September-October

Scorpio October-November

Sagittarius November-December

Capricorn December-January

That’s the 12 excellent astrology condoms from Japan.

Sincere thanks to Johnny of stationsvakt and Jay.

They also remind us why that is important. Holidays, sun, sea, sand and beer make things look better than they really are. Watch the condoms on holiday video to see what we mean.

Condoms on Holiday

But actually (of course) they’ve got a point. Having condoms with you during your holidays is convenient in many ways:

• You won’t have to worry about getting hold of any condoms
• You’ll know where the condoms came from
• You have a condom brand you trust
• No problems asking for condoms if the people/shop assistants don’t your language

Just like the NHS puts it: Passports, Tickets, Condoms.

Via Urlesque

Rumour has it that you can get an innocent Korean chocolate ice cream packaging with a cute turtle on it. However the instructions on the back of the ice cream packaging involves scissors and a somewhat strange shape for an ice cream.

The whole story was sent in by a guy from Brisbane, so I’ll let you listen to his own words:

“Upon paying the $1.90 for our desserts, the lady behind the counter said that she would get a pair of scissors so we could open my ice cream. I just thought that it was difficult packaging, but then noticed some instructions on the back involving scissors and a strange shape.”

And

“So I opened the pack and out popped a latex-coated treat. I was expecting plastic, but it’s cool that the Koreans are thinking laterally. She grabbed the tip of my rubber friend, pulled, snipped, and then–with a desperate sense of urgency– motioned for me to get it in my mouth. It’s a bit like a balloon, you see; all that rubber was trying to squeeze the chocolaty goodness out.”

The Packaging (and the Turtle)
The ice cream needs to be opened with a pair of scissors.

The Condom Ice Cream
Korean ice cream in Brisbane.

For everyone brave enough to try and get the condom ice cream, it costs a mere 1.90 Dollars. Enjoy!

P.S. While at it, check out this patented thing here, that looks suspiciously like an ice cream scooper…

Sincere thanks and picture credits Jademonkey/Scooper via IP Funny

Now unfortunately ebayers neglected the unique chance to see some celebrity condoms from up close and donate a considerate amount for World Aids Day. That didn’t happen. At least we now have some pretty pictures in store for you of celebrities holding condoms…

The LifeStyles Pop Art Auction Results

• Dania Ramirez’ price 10.00 Dollars
• Tera Patrick’s price 10.00 Dollars
• Ethan Hawke’s price 20.50 Dollars
• Mark Ecko’s price 20.50 Dollars
• Margaret Cho’s price 25.00 Dollars
• Ashley Judd’s price 30.99 Dollars
• Dita von Teese’s price 129.12 Dollars

And the winner is Dita von Teese with 129.12 Dollars paid for her creativity.

Ethan Hawke

Margaret Cho

Tera Patrick

It’s a pity. It was a great action. Maybe next time!

Dear Condomuntiy reader, I probably don’t have to explain that stealing condoms is illegal. On the other side, using condoms as football socks holders or as party lights is perfectly alright, we know that too.

But you might be a little bit surprised that placing a condom over a doorknob could get you in serious (legal) trouble. Isn’t that good to know? We warned you.

Alright, here’s what happened. The priest in charge of the Newman Catholic Center at the Montclair State University found an unused condom covering the doorknob of the center.

Thinking that this was “more than just a coincidence” after a series of on-campus discussions regarding abortion and gay rights in the recent past, the priest handed the matter over to the police. The Clifton department is now treating the incident as a bias crime.

Who would’ve thought?

Picture [via MyHeraldNews/Schillaci]