Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani boasted that urban crime went down 50 percent during his tenure as New York City mayor, but the current mayor has his own plan for keeping New Yorkers safe. Since Feb. 14, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has been giving away branded NYC prophylactics like so much candy. Sporting the familiar circled letters that mark the storied Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway routes, the condoms have proved wildly popular. Since February, more than 5million lubricated NYC condoms have been distributed in cocktail lounges, nail salons, barber shops, and restaurants throughout the city’s five boroughs.
The public health campaign offers souvenir posters proclaiming, ”New York, we’ve got you covered” and features risqué promotional animation in Russian, Chinese, Spanish (“Bebe, deseas al boogie?” “Másrápidamente, másrápidamente“), and English (Ooooh, I feel naked without a NYC condom” “Uh, you are naked“).
The NYC Health Department bulletin (below and on the following five pages) includes operating instructions (Page 3) for the hardy LifeStyles latex contraceptives.
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