item details
Overview
This Hell Pizza 'lust' condom was part of a controversial direct mail promotion by Hell Pizza in 2006 to advertise its Lust pizza aimed at 'meat lovers'. The Advertising Standards Authority received 685 complaints which was the highest ever at that time. The Authority upheld the complaints finding that the promotion and its method of distribution had caused widespread offence.
Sex sells
Promotional advertising has used sex to sell products since the late nineteenth century. This 'lust' condom occupies a particularly rich intersection between sex and pleasure, contraception, theology, fast food, popular culture, commercial advertising, humour, appropriation (of the Durex logo), and public standards.
Novelty condoms
Although these are 'novelty' condoms, they are real, with instructions on how to use them safely. Novelty condoms began to be manufactured in the 1980s, reflecting a shift in attitudes towards sex from a focus on reproduction to love and pleasure. Discreet plain packaging gave way to fun and humour.
The seven deadly sins
Hell Pizza began in Wellington in 1996 and quickly became a successful chain throughout New Zealand. By 2006, the year of this promotion, Hell Pizza had 66 stores throughout the country. Its products include pizzas based on the seven deadly sins of Roman Catholic theology: pride, lust, gluttony, sloth, wrath, greed and envy. The Lust pizza has been sold from the beginning.