Condom industry shifts emphasis from health to pleasure

Condom makers have largely shifted their marketing efforts away from the health aspects of condom usage, including the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, to promoting their products for pleasure, The New York Times reports. For example, some condom companies are promoting the additive benzocaine in lubricated condoms; benzocaine is a mild anesthetic that is claimed to "add to a man's endurance." Other manufacturers emphasize textures that are designed to heighten sexual pleasure or special sizes designed for a better fit. Whereas condom makers in the 1990s primarily promoted condoms as health necessities, the industry today has largely shifted to a "pleasure cycle," Durex marketing executive Kimberly Liss told the Times.