No Condom Ads On Primetime Television, Says Smriti Irani, Pooja Bedi Feels It’s Regressive!

Pooja Bedi who did the stunning Kamasutra condom ad , feels it’s time not to conceal but bring out the advantages  of protected sex. “India’s greatest problem is overpopulation, and it’s absurd that we are constantly  opposed  to the promotion of condoms which is the most effective way of curbing it.”

 If the condom ads are found  to be sexplicit then  Pooja disagrees with the prudish perception. “Condom advertisements show as much skin and are as titillating as item numbers and steamy scenes in Bollywood. Why is it that as a culture we are so okay watching a bloody  and violent fight scene in films?But not so  when it comes to someone kissing and showing affection or love.”

  Audiences of every age, feels Pooja, needs to grow comfortable with watching intimacy on  film.We need to make affection,including kissing  and sex to be normal experiences. The more we create a stigma  and taboo, and create an atmosphere  of prohibition around it,  the more we perpetuate a regressive mindset towards women and relationships.”

 As far as decorum at  primetime  being disturbed by such ads is concerned, then Pooja suggests a less erotic approach  in condom ads. “If primetime  television viewing is of concern because small kids watch  then conceive and make a different more conservative  kind of advertisements for condoms at primetime. But don’t ban them at that hour. If that’s the time maximum people watch, then that’s the time maximum people  can be accessed and the message for safe sex and family planning can be put forward  effectively.”

 And Pooja reminds us not to forget that condom is not just about controlling population. It’s also about safe sex. “I agree one of the greatest problems in our country is over-population.But that’s not the only problem. Safe sex,HIV,AIDS STDs ,and unwanted pregnancies  are of equal concern and given how rampant pre-marital sex is nowadays we need to stop behaving like an ostrich with its head in the sand.We need to recognize the reality and the importance of promoting use of condoms.”