'Consent condoms' need four hands to open the box

Two hands aren't enough to open the package for the new "Consent Pack" of condoms. It takes four hands pressing simultaneously on all four sets of buttons on the top and sides of the box. "If they don't say yes, it means no," the tagline on a video demonstration reads.  

Ad agency BBDO Argentina created the "Consent Pack" for Tulipan, an Argentine seller of sex toys and sexual-health products, including condoms.   

You probably won't find this unusual condom in a drugstore near you anytime soon, but it's still a reminder of the importance of consent in any sexual encounter. It's a topic that's gotten increasing attention on college campuses and workplaces in the US amid the #MeToo movement. 

"Why can't this box be opened with two hands? Because that's how consent works in relationships," reads a translated post from Tulipan's Facebook page.

Tulipan has placed the limited-edition product in bars and at events around Buenos Aires, and is sharing the product on social media with the hashtag #PlacerConsentido, or "permitted pleasure." Tulipan plans to sell the condoms online in the future, TNW reports.  

"Tulipan has always spoken of safe pleasure, but for this campaign we understood that we had to talk about the most important thing in every sexual relationship -- pleasure is possible only if you both give your consent," Joaquin Campins of BBDO said in a statement.  

Tulipan's unusual rubbers arose, TNW reports, after AHF Argentina, an advocacy organization for people living with HIV, revealed that only 14.5% of Argentinian men regularly used a condom. While 65% said they occasionally used condoms, an alarming 20.5% said they'd never used a condom.     

Many on social media applauded the message tucked into the marketing, though some noted the types of people who commit sexual assault wouldn't pay attention to it.

This isn't the first creative product to highlight issues around sexual boundaries.   

The Dress For Respect measures how many times the wearer is groped, with sensors sewn in that measure where on the body, and when, the wearer is touched. The information gets transferred via Wi-Fi to a control unit in real time.

The conceptual frock by advertising agency Ogilvy got a test run last year in Brazil, where 86 percent of women have been harassed in nightclubs, according to data from Think Olga, a feminist collective founded by a Brazilian journalist. 

Three women wore the sparkly conceptual dress to a Sao Paulo club in one night, and the data showed they were touched nonconsensually 157 times in less than four hours. That averages more than 40 touches per hour.