Ummmm.
An Indian firm has launched a paan-flavoured condom designed to evoke the pungent taste of the betel nut and tobacco concoction chewed and then spat out by millions of South Asians, newspapers reported on Tuesday. [Link]
Yeah, so like, is this so women will chew it and spit it out? So…many…jokes…cannot…type. I mean seriously, do we really want a condom to taste like something that you typically chew for an hour and grind down to a pulp? What if one acts instinctively when the aroma begins to entoxicate (although paan makes me want to vomit)? Well, at least nobody gonna mess with the prostitues who will be the test market for this product:
The company ran taste tests with sex workers, including prototypes with chocolate, banana and strawberry flavours, but the paan flavour came out tops…<
p>The condoms will at first be made available only to prostitutes, but will we launched to the general public in a few months, the newspaper said. [Link]
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I know some of you guys are thinking what I’m thinking but I am going to just come out and say it. Think I can bid for these on Ebay? During the limited release trial period the prostitutes would make a whole lot more money selling these to paan-flavored condom collectors like me, than they would using these with their clients. We’d both be winners. They’d get to skip work for a long time and I’d have something really cool for show-and-tell the next time I have a party.
i gather you didn’t like the taste, abhi.
melbourne desi was here.
Um, Abhi. What kind of parties do you throw exactly?
I think I speak on behalf of all women when I say I’m never testing those out. And I certainly didn’t realize Indian prostitutes had the trustworthy, refined taste buds to test those suckers out.
How does the taste of paan go with pineapple juice? Do I still need to bother? Frankly, I’m getting tired of the cans of Dole sitting in my kitchen.
Also, does this come accessorized with the myriad flavors of paan? The makers of mitha paan condoms should be afraid of falling into the trap of Cheeni Cum.
This might actually help the cause of safe sex. Here’s a slogan for an ad advocating the use of protection when kids are out surveying the scenery on a hormone-addled Saturday night: Paan And Scan!
The good kind 🙂
Ahem…gives new meaning for khaike paan
They tested it out on prostitutes because they are the demographic that engages in fellatio.
Men who frequent prostitutes in India frequently request and pay for fellatio, even (or especially) married men who’s wives are unwilling to engage in the same.
Naturally prostitutes (and hopefully clients) want to practice safe sex. Hence, a flavored condom during the act may encourage healthy consciousness.
Uncle Amit-ji:
Please do not be offended if I avoid you at the next desi function.
…or refuses your offer of paan.
Uncle Amit, thanks for the clarification. I would not have gotten that. Hah. On the other hand it could have just been that I was trying to make a paan flavored condom-in-cheek comment and you ruined it for me. Thanks for that.
Maybe they’ll run the old pan paraag ad again for this one – “Ek say mera kya hoga ….”
Sarah K and DJDP, please don’t be too hard on (yes, I crack myself up) Uncle Amit. He was just engaging in the age old Indian uncle practice of paantification which his wife has long tired of, but blog readers are expected to be more patient with.
If your guests get nervous, tell them you are a WKW fan.
What’s next, penis flavored condoms?
brilliant
Sarah, why you gotta hate on the prostitutes? 🙂
Maybe strawberry, chocolate, etc., are too sweet?
mmm….taste that fresh pen!s….
You’re not supposed to swallow paan.
yeah…i think with paan your either supposed to spit, swallow or duck…umm…err..never mind
This actually might be true, from what I hear.
Isn’t there a famous classic Bollywood song which goes ‘paan khaiyo saiyaan…’? Gives all paan songs an entirely new level of meaning 😀
On the whole, I do think it’s a good idea, though. Anything that encourages condom use is GOOD.
7 Saira,
You hit it right on the head. They can do a fantastic job if Shah-Rukh or Amitabh could do a pro-bono piece for them.
More specifically, I would think that few besides prostitutes would use condoms for fellatio. If you’re married to a person (assuming that person’s not HIV-pos), why would you use condoms for this?
For birth control. A lot of women I know, even in the US, are against hormonal birth control.
Also, this makes it safe all around in general. If the condom isn’t foul tasting, the person at the helm won’t mind giving lip service in its presence. Makes it possible to move on to bigger and deeper matters without an ‘armor-up’ break.
(Soooo hard to write about this without laughing out loud or sounding like a crass undersexed teenager!)
If the condom is paan flavored, does that mean it is more appropriate for oral as well as vaginal sex? I hadn’t really thought of this until Msichana’s point; I guess I had assumed all flavored condoms are specifically designed for oral sex.
Also, areem, I could be wrong but I get the impression that HIV/AIDS advocates in India feel that husband –> wife HIV transmission is one of many transmission vectors, and not an uncommon one.
Lastly, you can get throat cancer from someone’s spunk if they have HPV. Condoms — useful all around!
C’mon people! First Padma Lakshmi, now paan condoms. Don’t let these threads degenerate into substantive discussions! Focus, mutineers!
Why didn’t the fruit flavors succeed? I thought they’d have stood a better chance with their phal-ic allusions.
Aishwarya Rai prefers banana flavored condoms for vaginal sex to keep Baby AB free from harm.
Flavored condoms are for oral but thats just an appetizer and everybody wants main course. Ofcourse we dont have time to change the utensils.
hehe: Paan’s Labyrinth
I think the manufacturer did this for the media attention more so than to help stop the spread of HIV. How is a paan flavored condom going to convince a sex solicitor to wear it? I have to assume it’s a buyers market, so requiring condom usage might make a sex worker lose customers, the solicitor is the main decision maker. And do sex workers have the cash for these novelties?
The company should have just said, these condoms are for the general market that are having recreational sex…but you can’t handle that, so we’re masking it under a good cause.
I can’t wait until they come up with latex flavored paan. Yum! Who’s with me?
Sex workers can and do demand command usage. My god, it’s a matter of life or death for them, their customers and their customers’ wives, families and future babies.
what the fuck is the deal with flavoured condoms? do pussies absorb flavour and transmit it to the brain/senses or something?….why the fuck would you get your dick sucked with rubber on it? sex with condoms is bad enough, but understandable, if you are with someone new and have not been tested recently, but oral sex with condoms? that’s gotta be like taking a shower with your underwear on………………i can’t believe someone wrote it’s ok or understandable to use condoms in marriage….i will NEVER go near condoms when i get married.
I see a prize-winning book in the making…centered around the ritualistic spitting of paan-flavored condoms into lovingly crafted condom receptacles.
Follow the dutch…my bad, I’m glad you’ve done your research 🙂
The safe word is supari.
Man, forget the paan flavored condom. Now, if they had a KULFI flavored condom, that’s a ship I wouldn’t mind boarding.
From #22 Sandeep:
Actually, what they need is a commercial featuring SRK and K-Jo, side by side, endorsing that “we both use them.” ^__^
Hello yeast infection!
Jeez, how many times do I have to say this? You can contract certain strains of STDs through oral sex, and your risk for certain disease vectors increases through unprotected oral sex. You can also pass along STDs through oral sex (hello, herpes?). Condoms = good all around.
Using a flavored condom for vaginal sex is usually a bad idea, at least if it is sugar-based. Sugar + moisture == infection. SUPER gross. Flavored condoms are not traditionally for vaginal sex, but I asked about the paan ones because they would ostensibly be sugar-free and thus could be multi-use.
Camille, check out these delish sugar-free options (I do not speak from experience of course)? How nice of the condom manufacturers to think of diabetic oral-sex performers. capitalism ki jai!
i have to ask, what is the fucking point? most men would tell you that they hate condoms vehemently, but put up with it for obvious reasons. those same reasons exist for oral sex, but i feel the entire sensory experience would be diminished tenfold (vs. regular intercourse) for men with a condom. plus, condoms leave an aftertaste for the giver. do flavoured ones do so as well? how about dental dams?
though, if people are up for it, i would say paan-flavoured is a great idea – does it have the same mouth ‘freshening’ qualities as the real thing? many, many years ago, i pondered creating desi-flavoured condoms – chutney, chaat, limca, kesar-pista, and of course, sambar. i guess i took way too long in the realization of the product, but i’m glad somebody else got to it!
i guess some like it, uh, very hot.
The mint flavors seem especially thoughtful. Get fresh while getting’ fresh!
Camille, you have interesting friends.
Camille, there’s only one solution. Get up on a stage with Shah Rukh Khan, chant “Kaandam naheen seks naheen” (00:06), and then get jiggy with him.
ak, the door is still wide open for these products. Have Ambuja Patti endorse the authenticity of the Sambar and chutney flavors! Maybe the Ambika Appalam mami is also looking to add some variety to her portfolio.
24/7, be sure to discuss alternative birth control methods with your girlfriend BEFORE you marry her then.
Shodan, great catch! I am a huge fan, especially of his earlier stuff like Ashes of Time. Did you know he made Chungking express as a distraction when he was stuck with writers’ block during the making of Ashes of Time?
I know this is completely o/t, but WKW is my absolute favorite. I’ve been rewatching Days of Being Wild lately.
I’m just saying, I fully understand why this would be a practical item among couples, but particularly among sex workers, that’s all. 🙂
Rahul, my friends are awesome 😉
how about a FALUDA..;)
Wait, tell me why again its a smart idea to wear a condom that’s flavored with something that’s specifically made to be chewed?!
I also can’t imagine too many guys are going to be willing to get a hummer with a condom on.
Why all this hatin’ on paan folks? I like paan 🙂
32
I wholly support the idea of following the Dutch model everywhere. After all prostitution IS the oldest business in the world and I do nto understand why folks get their chuddies in the twist at the thought of legitimizing it. I think legitimizing it would go a long way in improving the lives of sex workers ( not to mention the fact that the tax pool increases )