TWO ''wholesome, fresh and healthy-looking'' Hongkong people will feature in the first condom advertisements to be shown in Asia, including China, on STAR TV.
Sales manager Polly Au Sin-yung and computer project manager George Chan Yim-keung, who met the stringent requirements set by a local production house for wholesome, fresh and healthy-looking professionals, feature in two 15-second slots, which will alsobe shown on TVB in Hongkong.
They will say two lines on why they choose to use Durex. A smiling Ms Au says: ''If he thinks he can do it without Durex, he can do it without me. Insist on Durex, I do.'' In the other advertisement, Mr Chan says: ''Who said insurance was expensive? Insist on Durex, I do.'' The commercials, in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, will be shown in eight countries including China where Durex was officially launched in March.
Durex's only previous Hongkong television campaign was in 1987, when the Government first lifted its ban on condom advertisements amid concern about the spread of AIDS.
A company spokesman admitted the conservative approach of Hongkong people towards sex made it difficult to show such advertisements in the territory.
''We have been very cautious with the content of this commercial,'' said Daniel Lam Hak-loong, regional manager of London International Asia Pacific, which makes and markets Durex.
''We have taken into consideration the variation in culture and perception of consumers in the different countries.'' Grey Advertising's group account manager, Andrew Lee Hung-yan, said: ''It is a quality assurance commercial which is a topic that does not have any cultural difference.