Bad Economy Seems to Be Putting People in the Mood for Condoms

More people are staying home because of the recession, which is having a healthy effect on condoms sales. According to the Nielson Co., condom sales increased 5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 and by 6 percent in January, compared to the same time periods the previous year.

More couples also are using condoms for family planning. "Obviously, people in general want to avoid unintended pregnancies," said Jim Daniels, vice president of marketing for Trojan condoms. "But in a down economy those costs are even more burdensome to bear."

Despite the rise in condom sales late last year, they still increased at a slower rate overall (2.3 percent) from 2007, according to research firm Information Resources. Three years ago, the overall increase was 5.5 percent. To increase marketing efforts, Pam Piligian of Fitzgerald+CO, the ad agency for Durex condoms, said Durex recently put free condom samples in newspapers and is making more coupon offers available on its Web site.

Carol Carrozza, vice president of marketing for Ansell Healthcare, which makes LifeStyles condoms, said the company is "trying to determine what kind of products and marketing strategies we can come out with that will help people during these recessionary times."

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