In a situation fit for living in 2023, a longtime mobile phone glitch has sparked a campaign about condoms and intimacy featuring rubber ducks.
Yes, really.
This all started last week when Apple caught the general public’s attention by announcing that it was going to fix the autocorrect feature that changes the F-word to “duck.”
Not one to miss out on a promotional opportunity, Durex says “It’s about ducking time!”
The sexual wellness brand, which is a subsidiary of British consumer goods company Reckitt, worked with creative agency MRM NY days after the tech giant’s announcement to launch a real-time social commerce effort tied into “ducking.”
Leaning into the all-too-common word switcheroo, the company has deployed shoppable posts across its Instagram, Facebook and TikTok channels promoting “ducky” art, a cheeky nod to Durex’s condoms by way of rubber ducks.
The direct-to-consumer play kicked off within the past week and since it coincides with Pride Month, Durex is featuring “queer as duck” artwork as well.
Armed with the hashtag #aboutduckingtime, Durex has even rolled out rubber duck-themed promo codes like DOWNTODUCK for its customers.
Condom brands are hardly bashful when it comes to promoting its sexual protective products along with other wellness.
In October, Durex partnered with rapper That Kid CG to create a music video called FYP (For Your Penis), a riff on TikTok’s For You Page.
Not to be outdone, Skyn, a rival condom brand, launched a frisky ad titled Explore Uncensored Pleasures at the start of the year to combat censorship.
This latest effort by Durex is yet another example of a brand utilizing inside jokes and the community nature of social media to capitalize on a timely policy change and promote its products accordingly.
“In a time when brands are expected to be more relevant and open, we decided to take what the world was already meme-ing and turn it into a cultural commerce opportunity,” Harsh Kapadia, chief creative officer of MRM NY, said in a statement. “There are many reasons why *uck gets censored, but it’s about ducking time we got a little more open and started celebrating.”
