MTV extends its brand to condoms; partners with Kamasutra

It’s time to shed your inhibitions and let your passion do all the talking! Welcome to the world of the young – Sexually assertive, expressive and active! Love is the new virginity. For elders sex might have meant for procreation, but youth, has discovered their recreation in it. Sex is fun. MTV, the leading youth iconic brand and Kamasutra, the leading player in the condoms category have together announced the launch of Kamasutra and MTV Hardwear Condoms. Hardwear brings the fun back in lay! The partnership is part of the licensing arrangement that is focussed to deliver excitement packed with safety! Hardwear comes in two playful variants; “Bi-coloured” condoms and “Big Head” condoms. The range will be available across 100,000+ organised & traditional retail touch points through the country.  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
For those who would love to ‘screw in colours’ the Bi-Coloured condoms come in 2 colour options, the pink condom showing off a red teat, while the natural coloured one with a yellow teat. The Big Head condoms, as the name suggests are ‘condoms with oversized tips’ for intense pleasure! Put together in snazzy packs, Hardwear condoms exude the ‘want it my way’ attitude of today’s youth. Staying true to its name, Hardwear will see men with their tools sweating it out on the packaging.

Witty, provocative, lateral, playful and raw, MTV has designed a campaign around the product like no other in the Indian market; it is clutter breaking and will resonate with the youth. It’s fresh, it’s young, it’s fun and it does not objectify women like most other condom campaigns do. With a plethora of condom advertisements dominating the tube projecting women at their seductive best, Hardwear is sure to be a refreshing change. Giving sleaze a miss, Hardwear will become the first brand in this category appealing to the youth who feel the need to be different. The campaign borrows heavily from the youth jargon on sex with heavy doses of pun intended on every word. MTV wants to promote safe sex and responsible youth behavior and with it establish Hardwear as the new lingo for condoms. The campaign will emphasize on smart innuendos and visuals which are sure to get everyone’s imagination running and pulse soaring.

The ad campaign will include a series of Television commercials bringing to life the product’s playful and fun attitude. The common creative idea of these TVCs builds on the theme of ‘Bang On’ while completely ignoring the usage of explicit content in condom ads. Taking this idea forward the off air promotions will further have smart innuendos, smart visuals to get your imagination going.

Aditya Swamy, EVP & Business Head – MTV India, says “Our goal is to surround sound young people and what better than to be a part of their favourite activity. Sex is fun, sex is natural and that’s how we have approached the entire packaging and communication. Fresh, funny and full of the MTV twist, HARDWEAR is everything your regular condom ads are not. Stay safe, ask for HARDWEAR. Bang on! ”

Saugato Bhowmik, SVP & Business Head - Consumer Products - Viacom18, says "With the Kamasutra Hardwear range of condoms, MTV brings to Indian youth, a product designed to make their favourite activity even more fun than before. The Kamasutra Hardwear range couples a sense of fun, sexual playfulness and style along with the message of safe and responsible sex. The range of condoms fuses the MTV style and values with the Kamasutra promise of safety. I am certain that the youth in India will have a lot of fun with Hardwear. Bang on!"

Ranju Kumar Mohan, Director and Business Head, JK Ansell said, "Today’s youth have their own lingo. They don’t like stereotypes and love witty messaging. With its unique style of communication, KamaSutra MTV Hardwear condoms are sure the break the shackles in the condom category - something which is a DNA of brand KamaSutra."

MTV has been actively involved in the ‘Staying-Alive Initiative’  in India & internationally, that promotes safer lifestyle choices and fights the stigma and discrimination which fuels the epidemic of HIV and AIDS; only making it an organic move for MTV to partner with Kamasutra, known for safety & reliability. The youth today is discerning & sex is no longer a forbidden domain for them.

MTV Consumer Products today extends into 20+ categories, with presence in both, conventional as well as unconventional categories like Innerwear for Men & Women, Adventure Bikes, Eye-wear, Bags, Books &Paper, Body Sprays & EDTs, Consumer Electronics, Mobile Phones &Tablets, Cosmetics and much more. MTV’s key licensees include Bwitch, Crusoe, Firefox, Aureole-Inspecs, BILT, J.K. Ansell, Swipe Telecom and Global Fragrances amongst others.