Durex rolls out condom app and delivery service [Video]

Durex's SOS Condoms app makes buying condoms as easy as ordering pizza.

By Salvador Rodriguez

February 1, 2013, 11:39 a.m.

Durex may have a solution for those who feel awkward buying condoms, and it's simple as ordering a pizza.

The British condom maker has launched an app for Apple devices called SOS Condoms that lets consumers order condoms and have them "discreetly" hand-delivered immediately.

"Get condoms whether it's day or night in less than one hour," the app's start screen reads.

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For now, the service is only available in Dubai, but Durex is taking a poll to see where it should roll out the service next. For the U.S., Los Angeles, Boston and New York City have all received votes, but according to a diagram on the SOS Condoms website, it appears Paris has the most votes -- although Buzzman, the app's developer, could not confirm that.

In Dubai, the consumer has to purchase at least a pack of 12 condoms to take advantage of the free delivery service, according to the app developer.

The company says its couriers are discreet and will show up dressed as either a pizza man, a police officer or a tourist so as to not draw attention from neighbors or passers-by.

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Comments (2)

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twinkltoes at 10:13 AM February 04, 2013

Just one question..... will they be picking up the used ones?

icaito at 4:45 PM February 01, 2013

I have been to Dubai a total of eight times since 1997. My last stay there was in '09, which lasted nearly 8 months.

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. They're trying on a big scale what was done in Harvard in 1987. Let's see how it goes.

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