In an attempt to remind kids to wrap it before they tap it, Leicester has looked to videogames for inspiration for its latest ad campaign.
There are plenty of good reasons for a guy to wear a condom before gettin’ freaky with a lady (or a dude) – your chances of getting an STI are significantly lowered, for one, and then there’s that whole “pregnancy” thing that’s probably best avoided until you plan for it.
Unfortunately, as every one of us who has ever been one knows, teenagers are stupid. Really, really, really stupid. In their infinitely poor teenage judgment, teens might opt to skip the “condom” step entirely, and that’s when problems happen. In order to convince more teens to practice safe sex, the Leicester branch of the UK’s Teenage Pregnancy Strategy has devised a new YouTube campaign inspired by that which the modern teenager loves: videogames.
“Game On!,” seen here, tells the story of one young man – who looks suspiciously like a recolored 8-bit Mega Man sprite – eager to get it on with his girlfriend. Unfortunately, he needs to get a condom before she’ll do the deed, so he must adventure through a Super Mario Bros-esque world, avoiding STI monsters and entering alcohol-induced “warp pipes” to acquire that which he needs most.
Also note that the start screen seems to be from Sonic 2, only with Sonic and Tails replaced by the guy and his girl. Ooh, unfortunate implications.
It’s actually a really clever ad campaign, even if modern teens might be more familiar with Halo or Call of Duty than with classic Mega Man, even if Condom Man does beat Herpes Man. It’s a good campaign for a good cause – frankly, I’m all for it.
On the other hand, it’s also a campaign that revolves around trying to get teenagers to stop being dumb. Frankly, they might have better luck with I Wanna Be The Guy.
