Durex

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Durex
Durex logo 2022.png
Condom box durex.jpg
A box of Durex Fetherlite condoms
Owner Reckitt Benckiser
Country United Kingdom
Introduced1915;109 years ago (1915) (as London Rubber Company)
Previous owners SSL International
Website durex.com

Durex is a brand of condoms and personal lubricant products owned by the British-Dutch company Reckitt Benckiser and currently led by Ben Wilson. [1] It was initially developed in London under the purview of the London Rubber Company and British Latex Products Ltd, where it was manufactured between 1932 and 1994. [2] [3] The London Rubber Company was formed in 1915, and the Durex brand name ("Durability, reliability, and excellence") was launched in 1929, although London Rubber did not begin manufacturing own-brand condoms until 1932, in collaboration with a rubber technology student from Poland named Lucian Lundau. [2] [3] [4] The first book on The London Rubber Company and the history of Durex condoms, written by Jessica Borge, was published in September 2020 by McGill-Queen's University Press. [2] [3]

Contents

The London Rubber Company later merged with SSL International, and has since 2010 been owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Reckitt Benckiser. It is one of the best-selling condom brands around the world, with 30% of the global market. [5] In 2006, Durex condoms were the second-best-selling brand of condoms in the United States, with Trojan condoms being the first. It is supplied by, among others, the company Karex. [6]

In 2007, the last factory making Durex condoms in the UK stopped manufacturing and production has since moved to China, India and Thailand. [5] The modern range includes a wide variety of latex condom, including the Sheik and Ramses brands in North America, [7] and the Avanti condom. Durex also provides a range of lubricants and sex toys.

Although Durex was not an official sponsor of the Olympic Games, Durex provided 150,000 free condoms to more than 10,000 athletes that competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. [8]

Market share

China

Although condoms are not a widely used form of contraception in China, with only around 10% of sexually active people using them, among Chinese condom users Durex has a dominant market share of 45% as of 2015. [9] Due to a relatively conservative culture surrounding sex, Durex's marketing in China is often indirect and subtle, often involving lighthearted humour. [10] Marketing is done almost exclusively on social media. [10] Durex has operated an account on the microblogging site Weibo in 2011, [11] which had 2.65 million followers and more than 20,000 posts as of 2018. [12] Durex targets Chinese users on Sina Weibo aged from 20 to 40, and primarily men under 35 years old. [13] In 2011, Durex began cross-industry advertising tie-ins with the antivirus software company Trend Micro, [14] using the common themes of "antivirus" and "security". [15]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">K-Y Jelly</span> Personal lubricant

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SSL International</span> British company

SSL International plc was a British manufacturer of healthcare products. Its best known brands were Durex and Scholl; other significant brands were Sauber and Mister Baby. The company's name was an abbreviation of Seton Scholl London International, its predecessor businesses. The company was founded in 1929 and was listed on the London Stock Exchange. In November 2010, SSL International was folded into Reckitt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reckitt</span> British-Dutch multinational consumer goods company

Reckitt Benckiser is a British-Dutch multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, United Kingdom, and Hoofddorp, Netherlands. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in 1999 by the merger of British company Reckitt & Colman plc and Dutch company Benckiser N.V.

Combe Incorporated, based in White Plains, New York, is an American personal-care company founded in 1949 by Ivan Combe. Combe products are sold in 64 countries on six continents. Ivan Combe primarily promoted the brand names instead of the company name. Combe owns the brands Just for Men, Sea-Bond, Vagisil, and Grecian Formula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Female condom</span> Device for birth control and STI prevention

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">LifeStyles Condoms</span> Australian condoms brand by Ansell Limited

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weibo</span> Chinese microblogging website

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Safedom is a Chinese condom manufacturer based in Beijing. Founded in 2006, it grew rapidly in China and was planning to sell 1 billion condoms in China in 2012, approximately 8% of the domestic market. Four-fifths of Safedom's customers in China are women, since its marketing emphasises female health benefits.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karex</span> Malaysian condom manufacturer

Karex Berhad is a Malaysian condom manufacturer, one of the largest in the world. It produces more than five billion condoms a year and one in every five condoms globally. The company also supplies condoms to marketing brands like Durex.

One Male Condom is a natural rubber latex condom product specifically intended, evaluated and marketed for use during anal sex, as well as being approved for use as a contraceptive and to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by vaginal sex. It received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to be marketed for anal sex use on February 23, 2022. All previous FDA condom approvals were specifically only approvals for use with vaginal sex, and thus their use was off-label for anal sex. When used for anal sex, the One Male Condom product is intended to be used with a compatible water-based personal lubricant.

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References

  1. ↑ Elmhirst, Sophie (27 June 2023). "'People are like, Wow!': the man trying to make condoms sexy". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Borge, Jessica (2020). Protective practices : A history of the London Rubber Company and the condom business. Foreword by Lesley A. Hall. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 32–88. ISBN   978-0-2280-0333-5. OCLC   1143645992. Archived from the original on 15 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "Protective Practices: The London Rubber Company and Condoms". londonrubbercompany.com. August 2020. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  4. ↑ Borge, Jessica (11 February 2021). "Durex condoms: how their teenage immigrant inventor was forgotten by history". Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  5. 1 2 "New Chapter in the 81-year History of Durex". BBC News. 21 July 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "What's the best-selling condom in America?". By Brendan I. Koerner – Slate Magazine. 29 September 2006. Archived from the original on 9 January 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
  7. ↑ "First plastic condom for men becomes available next year". 14 October 1993. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
  8. ↑ Boyle, Matthew. "Top Secret: Durex's Olympic Condoms" Bloomberg Businessweek Retrieved on 20 April 2012
  9. ↑ "Rising penetration rate". The Economist. 30 July 2015. ISSN   0013-0613. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  10. 1 2 Zhou, Zaiyu. "Durex Digital Marketing Decoding". Sina. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  11. ↑ Fu, Ru; Li, Xihong. "Durex's New Media Marketing Strategy Analysis". digital marketing. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  12. ↑ "Sina Weibo of Durex". Sina Weibo of Durex. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  13. ↑ "Durex Consumer Insights". InfoScout. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  14. ↑ "cooperate with Durex". Trend Micro. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  15. ↑ "Durex: Digital Marketing is everywhere". S-times. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
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