Durex's Empowering Manifesto Resets 'Normal' Sex Boundaries

As lockdown restrictions around the world begin to ease, a new film from sexual wellbeing brand Durex has again called on people to not go back to normal – because normal wasn’t good enough.

The film reprises Durex’s empowering manifesto – first released in a series of executions in early May – which points to ‘norms’ such as shaming women who carry condoms, men not wearing them because they don’t like the ‘feel’ and one million preventable STIs every single day. It argues that the current crisis represents a unique chance to reset what is ‘normal’ – and that nobody should want to return to a normal where we weren’t protecting ourselves and each other anyway.

The film will be promoted globally, via organic and paid social posts across the world. It launches in Italy and Greece, with Russia and the UK to follow in the coming weeks ahead of further regional executions going live in-line with the easing of local lockdown restrictions.

It was created by Greg Ormrod and Thomas Worthington and creatively directed by Elliot Harris at Havas London. It was produced and directed by Tubby Brother Films.

The Let’s Not Go Back to Normal campaign follows the launch of Durex’s major new positioning and visual identity, ‘Challenge the Norms’, earlier this year. The sex-positive brand relaunch positioned Durex as a mainstream activist against sexual taboos, stigmas and outdated, non-inclusive attitudes and instead vowed to showcase the ‘positive reality’ of sex.

Since the lockdown began, the brand has remained true to this tone of voice in an authentic yet contextually relevant way, with messaging including ‘We’ve been protecting people since 1929. Now it’s your turn’, ‘Come together, apart. You don’t have to share a bed to have great sex’ and ‘Staying in doesn’t mean you can’t explore.’