Skyn strips off for Valentine’s Day

It’s Valentine’s Day on February 14 so we can anticipate a fair number of wince-inducing ads to celebrate it.

Japanese condom company Skyn has entered the lists early with a social and digital campaign from UltraSuperNew – with nary a prophylactic in sight.

Four couples were given 10 envelopes, each containing instructions on what to do next with their partner, starting with “hug each other” or “look into each other’s eyes”, working their way up – or down – to the more intimate. The final one being to undress each other.

Skyn’s Annie Hou says: “As a condom brand we wanted to create a campaign that will build up excitement for Valentine’s Day, where condom consumption tends to increase. The concept required the couples to undress each other and has caused a bit of concern when it came to media placement, but we knew and believed that half naked couples would instinctively create a strong hook.

“We also wanted something that creates more than just impact. Something that reveals the soft but yet strong connection between couples, just like what we’ve been continuing doing.”

UltraSuperNew creative director Yousuke Ozawa says: “As we were planning this experiment-ish idea, we didn’t give out any information to the couples so they were definitely in for a surprise. But as the directions in the envelope eased them into the real topic, every couple were comfortable undressing each other.

“One couple immediately smiled, other couples became very tense and other couples were completely open to it, as if they couldn’t wait to start.”

Should cause quite a stir on Topkyo’s digital billboards.

MAA creative scale: 8.