Do condoms scare you? I didn’t think so. Yet, they seem to scare the pants off of Twitter.
Lucky Bloke, where I am founder and CEO, has been inundated for months with emails from “Twitter for Business,” urging us to try out Twitter Ads and turn our followers into customers. However, after we tried to participate in the program with a "Tired of lousy condoms?" sponsored Tweet, Twitter banned us from advertising entirely.
According to their ad policies, condom ads are subject to the same restrictions as:
- Hate content and violence.
- Drugs and drug paraphernalia.
- Weapons and weapon accessories.
Really? Seriously.
This is simply unacceptable. Will you join us by signing our petition to Twitter to change its policy around condom advertising? Join us as we #Tweet4Condoms!
Condoms save lives — and removing stigma will save more lives. This is not avant-garde or edgy positioning. Condoms are a necessary health item globally.
Our simple request for Twitter:
Kindly remove condoms from Twitter Ads content blacklist.
In the fight against the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies, condoms are the first line of defense. If you restrict the distribution of condoms, you are restricting efforts to save lives.
Let’s acknowledge condoms for what they are: a necessary, safe, socially acceptable way for people to protect their health — and let’s encourage Twitter to show the world that they are utterly unafraid to challenge anyone who attempts to stigmatize or marginalize condom use.
How can you participate?
Lucky Bloke is requesting that allies, friends, and sexual health experts and advocates join the campaign by:
● SIGNING: this petition asking Twitter’s CEO Dick Costolo to remove stigmatizing and harmful restrictions on condom advertising.
● SHARING: the open letter to Twitter’s CEO Dick Costolo, see below.
● TWEETING: @Twitter, @TwitterAds and Twitter CEO Dick Costolo (@dickc) with the campaign hashtag #Tweet4Condoms. (Click here for sample Tweets)
● POSTING: on Twitter’s Facebook. (Click here for sample posts you can use).
● SHARING: graphics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. (Click here to view and share).
● LEARNING: more about the campaign & Lucky Bloke's condom education (Click here to learn more!)