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Condom Maker Durex Wants a Safe-Sex Emoticon

By Cheri Cheng | Update Date: Dec 01, 2015 10:29 AM EST

Your next emoticon upgrade might include a condom!

Durex, the company that manufactures condoms, will be officially submitting a formal request to Unicode, the makers of emoticons, for the first ever safe-sex emoji.

Durex will be presenting its design on Wednesday, which is World AIDS Day. The company is hoping that Unicode will respond to the "resounding global support" for the emoji by approving it.

Durex has been campaigning for a safe-sex emoji for about a month now. When they started the campaign "to create the first official safe-sex emoji," they asked Twitter users to use "#condomemoji" and had received a lot of support.

Durex argued that since almost everyone is on social media, emojis can have a huge influence over a large group of people. A safe-sex emoji, in particular, could encourage people, especially the younger crowd, to practice safe sex.

The company also conducted its own research and found that the majority of people - around 80 percent - between the ages of 18 and 25 admitted that communicating with emojis made it easier for them to express their thoughts. About 84 percent of the people in this age group felt that it was easier to talk about sex with the help of emojis.

People have already been using creative combinations of emojis, particularly food based ones like the eggplant or the banana, to sext. Adding a condom emoji would make it easier to bring up a topic that some might not feel comfortable talking about in person.

Durex also explained how a safe-sex emoji can help via this video:

Condoms, which are used during sexual intercourse, can prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted illnesses (STIs).

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