You’re sitting in a crowded bus and your mobile goes off. The ringtone features a close harmony group singing “condom, condom, condom…” That could happen for mobile phone owners in India following a campaign by the BBC World Service Trust to promote the use of condoms in the sub-continent.

The Condom, Condom! ringtone is the latest in an ongoing HIV and AIDS awareness campaign that puts mobile technology – and humour – at the heart of its approach. India is the world’s fastest-growing mobile telephone market with 270 million users at the latest count, up 57% in just one year.

In the first two weeks of the campaign there were nearly 68,000 requests to download the ringtone backed by extensive coverage in the Indian press. The production team are delighted with this since one of the campaign’s aims is to get people talking about sex and condoms. The ringtone can be downloaded at: www.condomcondom.org

“Ringtones have become such personal statements that a specially created condom ringtone seemed just the right way of combining a practical message with a fun approach,” said Creative Director, Radharani Mitra. “We have always had a strong interactive, responseled component in this campaign. This downloadable ringtone provides an opportunity for our audience to translate a message into an action. The idea is to tackle the inhibitions and taboos that can be associated with condoms.”

The campaign’s theme Jo Samjha Wohi Sikander – “the one who understands is a winner” – reinforces the message that those who use condoms are winners in life. It is part of a large-scale BBC World Service Trust public service campaign to help stem the rate of HIV infection. Around 2.5 million people in India are living with HIV, with the highest rates of infection in the south and west of the country.

MORE INFORMATION

www.condomcondom.org