I [penis] NYC? Probably not going to be on NYC's new free condoms, but we'll see.
An announcement that the city's health department plans to develop a "memorable" wrapper for its free condoms had New Yorkers dreaming Tuesday about the possibilities: little subway maps, for instance, or a classic "I {heart} New York," or the noble visage of Lady Liberty.
The city has been distributing 1 million condoms a month since June 2005, when Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden kicked off the Free Condom Initiative to try to stop the spread of AIDS and other diseases.
But there has been no way for clinicians to monitor who is using the generically packaged condoms, and therefore no way to gauge the program's effectiveness. The new packaging, which should be available within six months, will help the city keep track.
"We wanted to develop condom packaging that was noticeable and memorable so that we can later track the effectiveness of our distribution. We also aim to use the packaging to promote condom use and awareness," health department spokeswoman Sandra Mullin said in a news release.
Adam Glickman, founder of the condom shop Condomania, called the plan brilliant, and said a New York-themed logo would almost certainly draw interest. Customers in his Bleecker Street business — tourists, especially from Europe — frequently request New York condoms.
"New York is a very sexy place," Glickman said. "It's sort of a dirty, sexy, fast-paced place. It's a natural on a condom."
Appealing packaging can reduce self-consciousness about carrying condoms, he said.
"A charming condom can affect behavior," Glickman said. "More people may end up using a charming condom than an ordinary prophylactic."
Now here's the part just no one could possibly have predicted:
The idea of promoting free condoms with New York wrappers was less amusing to the Rev. Bill Banuchi, executive director of the state's Christian Coalition.
"To bring New York City to such an obscene level — it's absurd," he said.
What's the true obscenity?
Although death rates from AIDS have fallen, New Yorkers continue to become infected at alarming rates, according to statistics released this month by the health department. Heterosexual sex has become the most common means of transmission.
More than 95,000 New York City residents have AIDS, and city epidemiologists estimate that 10,000 more are infected with HIV and don't know it.
No, no: clearly it's condoms that are the truly horrible things to focus on.
Here is the NY Times version.
Keep in mind: A private company already markets a condom with an Empire State Building design.
The task, as the informal panel saw it, was twofold: come up with a catchy design that somehow says "New York City," and do it within the extreme constraints of taste, politics and municipal decorum that a client like the health department must contend with. It would also have to be in tune with the serious public health issues involved, and with the sensitivities of religious groups that may object.
Alan Siegel, chairman and chief executive of Siegel & Gale, a strategic branding firm, was asked what the condom might be called.
"City Planner," Mr. Siegel said.
Very nice. Tasteful, actually.
And what might the city condom look like?
Paula Scher, designer of graphic icons like the Citibank logo, took a crack at it.
"Maybe something black or checkered," she said. "It should have a very distinct form, so that when you recognize it in the street you know it's a New York City one. Maybe black with yellow overtones, a taxi graphic. Something simple, powerful, loud. Tough, powerful urban graphics."
Davin Wedel, owner of Global Protection Corporation, makers of the Empire State Building condom as well as a wide range of custom condom packages for individual clients, was thinking a cityscapes series.
"I would take landmarks and things that people in New York relate to," he said. "I'd take the Statue of Liberty and I'd say 'A Beacon for Safety.' And you'd have to do one for the Brooklyn Bridge."
No, you wouldn't, said Allen Adamson, a managing director at Landor Associates, who worked on the NYC2012 Olympic bid and other campaigns.
"I would stay away from the Brooklyn Bridge, the overused icons, and try to get more of the nitty-gritty," he said. "Cobblestone streets, the narrow buildings — that sort of urban gritty. It's got to have a 'Rent' feel, not a '42nd Street' feel. Or even an uptown urban look. Black and grays and narrow streets."
The trick to reaching today's savvy youth consumer, Mr. Adamson said, was to say New York without screaming it.
"You'd need to be in the know that it was N.Y.C.," he said. "If it becomes cliché, who'd want to be caught dead wearing it?"
Seniors in the packaging design program at Fashion Institute of Technology were also consulted. The department chairwoman, Marianne Klimchuk, reported the results.
They saw the outside packaging as "a design like a manhole cover, with peepholes in the manhole covers so you can see the colors of the products inside."
How about a slogan? Tucker Viemeister, a designer and vice president of Studio Red at Rockwell Group in Union Square, suggested this one: "If you see something, do something." Nice. Manages to convey both responsibility and wantonness.
The client was consulted. A spokeswoman for the health department declined to comment on the slogan.
Posted by "Richie Tenenbaum." (RT is a pseudonym of a slightly-well-known blogger not trying to hide his other name from anyone other than Google, who is guest-supplementing at DR.)
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