It's that smooth
Wingman
Fiddling with the tip, hands full of lubricant, am I putting it on upside down? Condoms are a necessary evil. It's no wonder that various studies show that fewer and fewer people are using them. Lovemaking interruptions seem inevitable, but it doesn't mean they have to be so irritating. Wingman understands this like no other. Equipped with extremely user-friendly wings, Wingman ensures that the condom can be applied effortlessly and quickly. This reduces the interruption to a minimum. That's the focus of Wingman's new campaign.
Decreasing condom usage
According to representative research conducted by Rutgers and Soa Aids Nederland among over 10,000 young people aged 13 to 25, the group not using contraception has increased over the past twelve years. Especially among students, it's not a given. In 2017, almost three-quarters of young people used a condom during their first (vaginal) sex. By 2023, it was only two-thirds. Experts expect that the number of STIs will continue to rise if condom use keeps declining. In the research, young people mention not using a condom because they believe it reduces sexual pleasure.
"You certainly don't want to be taken out of the moment. But then again, an STI or an unwanted pregnancy you want even less."
The interruption is the problem
Daan de Raaf, Strategy Partner at Happiness Amsterdam: "The big issue lies in the interruption of your lovemaking. You certainly don't want to be taken out of the moment. But then again, you want even less to have an STI or an unwanted pregnancy. Fortunately, with Wingman, the experience is super smooth. Whether you use two hands or only have one hand free, within two seconds your Wingman is on. And that's a lot less hassle than with a traditional condom."
"It was essential to not only show how it works, but especially how smooth it works."
Once Wingman, always Wingman.
The originally Dutch invention – Wingman was conceived by two former students of the TU Delft – already has fans worldwide. But it appears to be more challenging than expected to get people to try the winged condom. "Once you've used Wingman, you never want anything else anymore. But it's also quite something to convince people to try something different at such a delicate moment. Because what are those little wings?" says Arnaud Snippe, managing director of Wingman. "It was essential to not only show how it works but especially how smooth it works."
"Just like the condom ritual, we ensure that our advertising is as smooth as possible. So, it hardly causes an annoying interruption."
Making every interruption as smooth as possible
That was the starting point for the new advertising campaign for Happiness Amsterdam, the responsible agency. "We saw a nice parallel between two annoying but necessary interruptions: using the condom, and – yes – advertising. Just like the condom ritual, we ensure that our advertising is as smooth as possible. So, it hardly causes an annoying interruption. In fact, it's over before you can click away, swipe, or scroll," says Joey Boeters, Creative Partner at Happiness Amsterdam.
In addition to the campaign, Happiness also handled the design of the new Wingman packaging and website.
The campaign was deployed on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Tinder, and YouTube. The kick-off logically took place on February 14, Valentine's Day.