London-based sex toy company Lelo has a new condom design, and Charlie Sheen has come on board as their ambassador. His first campaign video is about how going public with his HIV diagnosis was a step towards healing, even if he didn’t exactly chose to do it.
The product is selling itself as the first jump in condom technology in 70 years. (Gizmodo calls bullshit.) Each penis tuxedo is composed of hexagonal panels of latex, a structural design that makes the condom very thin, but strong. “Like graphene,” Business Insider describes it, adding that this Buckminster Fuller safety suit isn’t yet available.
Sheen’s message is also about the pleasure people fear they’ll lose by using a condom, with the implication that Lelo’s design will finally make those fears completely unnecessary:
“I think people associate the word ‘condom’ with less pleasure, with less connection,” he says. “What may feel like five seconds of inconvenience, or a halted, or thwarted moment can absolutely prevent a lifetime of potential grief and suffering.”
He continues that a lot of people hold the “fantasy belief” that they will never contract a sexually transmitted disease or infection.
“I pretty much felt the same way: That’s stuff for other people,” Sheen says.
The project is aiming for 10,000 backers before it gets off the ground and is currently at about 1,500.
Gif via Lelo Hex.