Condom firm seeks hits on new website for erotic tales

A CONDOM manufacturer is hoping to boost sales by launching a website which encourages young men to send in stories and even videos of their sexual conquests, it emerged yesterday.

The site is part of a £1.5 million campaign by Mates, which describes it as a “celebration of spontaneous sex, exploring the weird and wonderful locations where people indulge in sex”. Visitors to the new ishaggedhere.com website, which goes live today, includes a section called “shags reunited” where people can find previous partners or “tell the world about favourite encounters”.

One campaigner has already condemned Mates for the campaign, particularly as it follows confirmation earlier this week of an alarming increase in the number of sexual infections in England. Mediawatch UK

director John Beyer said: “I think they should have had more regard to the rise in sexually transmitted diseases that is at crisis point, especially among the young. I’m not sure a site like this helps at all.”

Mates, which claims to be Britain’s second-largest condom brand, is using flyposters and inserts in magazines such as FHM to promote the campaign, which is aimed at males aged 16 to 24.

Remco Teulings, marketing and business development manager at Mates’ parent company Ansell, said: “What we want to do is remove the stigma surrounding sexual protection and purchasing condoms.”

Professor Michael Adler, who helped develop the Britain’s sexual health strategy, said this week that over the past decade the country’s sexual health had deteriorated.

The number of infections had increased alarmingly and teenage pregnancies were yet to fall, he said in an editorial in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.