Magnum condoms, for those of you who don't know (not me), are big condoms that are great for when your penis is extra large. Who better to promote Magnum condoms than rappers, who have extra-large penises, as everyone knows?

A rogue employee of the British Foreign Office wrote a satirical (?) memo with suggestions for the Pope's September UK visit. Included: "launch of 'Benedict' condoms" and "Open an abortion ward". Now the British government has apologized.

The NYC Department of Health recently held a contest looking for a new package design for their free NYC-brand condoms. Online voters, the worst kind of voters, cast their ballots and chose the second worse one.

Now all they have to do is teach everyone how these contraptions even work. The freebies will be in "beauty salons, convenience stores and high schools" for the next three weeks. [WaPo]

Five finalists have been named in the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's design a condom wrapper contest. Winner gets their artwork on free jimmy-hat wrappers! The manhole cover design at left was described as such in City Room:

Remember that city-sponsored competition to design an official NYC condom? The folks at the Department of Health have picked five finalists and now it's up to you—the public—to pick the winner. Unless you have something better to do, of course. [NYT]

This Russian billboard shows four tires and a condom, and reads, "A complete set of the road rubber." It is presumably meant to advertise tires. Do you get it? I don't get it. [Copyranter; Pic via. Click to enlarge]

The city is inviting New Yorkers to submit their designs for a "special, limited-edition" NYC-branded condom wrapper that will be unveiled next fall. Perhaps you're looking for something constructive to do over the holidays? Just be sure to avoid using images or text that could be considered "sexually explicit," please. [NYT]

Mr. Condom is a lovable Mario look-alike on the cutting edge of new prophylactic trends (pleasure nubs are in). Savvy enough to know what AIDS means for sales, he stands by his products, enjoying strawberry lube on ice cream sundaes.

Meanwhile in Sweden, they're giving condoms to religious kids and asking for sexy condom-use stories!

Planned Parenthood is mailing condoms to college kids in their welcome packets, which would be totally passé in developed regions of the country. But this was in Missouri!

After a female porn actress tested positive for HIV this week, health officials in LA disclosed a bunch of other previously unreported HIV cases in porn, and now people are getting vaguely freaked out.

Cut the cutesy bullshit and get straight to the point: use a condom and save zillions of dollars buying crap for a kid. OR, be celibate!

Downside of condoms: feeling. Upside of condoms: they prevent the Holocaust.

Chinese ad people haven't gotten the hang of the sexy English slogans yet, but they're world class in 'Sex Metaphors for Hacks.'

"Kevin De Cock, director of the World Health Organisation's HIV/AIDS department, said there is no scientific evidence showing that condom use spurs people to take more sexual risks." De Cock should know. [Reuters]

Belgian sex-related advertising is an absolute phenomenon. The horny little country already gave us ass-vertising and disturbing prophylactic Photoshops and the best sex-ed commercial ever. And now the weird Europeans are back with an ad campaign (for condoms) starring that underrated icon: the penis. All of it. Dressed up as various celebrities. After the jump, a somewhat nightmarish (and NSFW) version of Arnold Schwarzenegger—I don't encourage you to look:

Perhaps we need a "Text-only" law for condom advertising. Leaving prophylactic communications in the hands of human art directors is just too risky-particularly when you're dealing with the strange sexual mores of foreigners. Because while the result might come off nice and cute (like the Chinese Olympic condom ads), there's an equal chance that it will be grotesque. This Belgian ad campaign for super-thin condoms has Photoshopped a man and a woman together into a terrifying image of a conjoined connubial monstrosity. I know Europeans have different ideas of "personal space," but really. Click through for two full (freaky but SFW) ads:

Condom advertising is a fine art form. A prophylactic maker has to decide whether to go demure-letting the product sell itself-or think up some fancy gimmick to make people choose their rolled-up piece of plastic over other, incredibly similar, competitors. They're all gonna end up in the same place haha, yaknowhatimsayin? (Actually they won't, except in Iran). A Chinese condom company called Elasun has caught the Olympic spirit with an ad campaign that makes condoms into cute little references to Olympic sports. Because "Sports make you health"! Pictured, Bicycle-fucking. Click through for three more sport-fucking spots.

Legends Rubbers, a small Australian company that sells its condoms in retro-looking tins for the cool effect, made national news by signing up controversial sex-positive artist Hazel Dooney to design some tins for them. It's not the first time prophylactics have collided with the art world; Keith Haring himself "considered ideas for designing condoms," and condoms are a staple medium for a certain breed of working artist. Sex-themed art as a marketing tool seems like a natural fit. And now, a new psychological study confirms its wisdom. Why "dirty thoughts" make men buy things—and a few of Dooney's (racy) past works—after the jump.