Durex

Durex is a condom brand. It was originally developed and produced in London, Great Britain, under the purview of The London Rubber Company and British Latex Products Ltd, where it was manufactured between 1932 and 1994.[1][2] 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 Polish rubber technology student named Lucian Landau.[1][2] 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.[1][2]

For the adhesive tape called Durex, see 3M.

Durex
A box of Durex Fetherlite condoms
OwnerReckitt Benckiser
CountryUnited Kingdom
Introduced1915 (1915) (as London Rubber Company)
Previous ownersSSL International
WebsiteDurex.com

The London Rubber Company later merged with SSL International, since 2010 which has been owned by the British company Reckitt Benckiser. It is one of the best-selling condom brands across the world, with 30% of the global market.[3] 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.[4]

In 2007 the last factory making Durex condoms in the UK stopped manufacturing and production has since moved to China, India and Thailand.[3] The modern range includes a wide variety of latex condom, including the Sheik and Ramses brands in North America,[5] 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.[6]

Durex in China

The official microblogging of Durex started on the Chinese Sina Weibo in January 2011.[7] The number of its followers is 2.65 million (in 2018) and the number of its microblogs is more than 20,000. Durex's homepage also includes promoting Weibo microblogs.[8]

Durex's marketing in China is discreet, as the Chinese usually like larger families, compared with the more western approach to families, with campaigns of their products run subtly to comply with the requirements of social ethics.[9] In Chinese traditional cultural conception, sex is a topic that is best not to be explicitly put forward.[9]

Durex targets Chinese users on Sina Weibo aged from 20 to 40, and primarily men under 35 years old.[10] In 2011, Durex began cross-industry advertising tie-ins with the antivirus software company Trend Micro,[11] using the common themes of "antivirus" and "security."[12]

References
  1. 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 0-2280-0333-4. OCLC 1143645992.
  2. "Protective Practices: The London Rubber Company and Condoms". londonrubbercompany.com. August 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  3. "New Chapter in the 81-year History of Durex". 21 July 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  4. "What's the best-selling condom in America?". By Brendan I. Koerner – Slate Magazine. 29 September 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
  5. "First plastic condom for men becomes available next year". 14 October 1993. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
  6. Boyle, Matthew. "Top Secret: Durex's Olympic Condoms" Bloomberg Businessweek Retrieved on 20 April 2012
  7. Fu, Ru; Li, Xihong. "Durex's New Media Marketing Strategy Analysis". digital marketing. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  8. "Sina Weibo of Durex". Sina Weibo of Durex. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  9. Zhou, Zaiyu. "Durex Digital Marketing Decoding". Sina. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  10. "Durex Consumer Insights". InfoScout. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  11. "cooperate with Durex". Trend Micro. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  12. "Durex: Digital Marketing is everywhere". S-times. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
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