Thanks to emojis, the eggplant — a once mighty vegetable — is now seen as little more than a symbol for the male genitalia, despite Instagram’s best efforts. Heck, you can even now buy a freaking vibrator in the shape of the jaunty purple emoji, if you happen to swing that way.
The eggplant emoji has become so ubiquitous that condom manufacturers Durex pulled a little joke on followers to the Durex Global Twitter account this week by announcing Aubergine (British for “eggplant”) flavored condoms. Yum! Throw a Parmesan cheese-flavored bottle of lube and a tomato sauce dental dam in there and you’ve got yourself a meal! (Hey, say what you will, but it’s still not as gross sounding as pumpkin spice condoms.)
https://twitter.com/durex/status/772771914972536832
Not surprisingly, Twitter initially failed to see the humor, and the ensuing reactions were a mix of horror, revulsion, and bewilderment.
https://twitter.com/killmefam/status/772862485984534528
https://twitter.com/chelseymayr/status/773040535615381504
The funny thing is eggplant itself tastes like rubber. So Durex has launched condom flavoured condoms. Good job.
— Sidin (@sidin) September 5, 2016
https://twitter.com/settledownadri/status/772799135254614016
https://twitter.com/doncheadlefan1/status/772834111572549632
One has to wonder what kind of market research/results the people at Durex did/got to come up with an eggplant-flavored condom.
— AZ (@azkhawaja) September 5, 2016
It's hilarious how @durex has launched an Egg Plant flavoured condom. A condom is supposed to ensure the egg is not planted! #condomemoji
— Harihar (@harihar_goswami) September 5, 2016
.@durex pic.twitter.com/lIY0c2e8oC
— Bhakthi (@bhakthi) September 5, 2016
Of course, in the end, the whole thing turned out to be a marketing stunt by Durex to try to get a condom emoji approved, which if you think about it makes perfect sense from a safe sex angle.
https://twitter.com/durex/status/772841753279926273
A condom emoji would be helpful in a variety of situations, from your standard booty call to if your man is at the corner store picking up some Häagen-Dazs and you realize that you’re out.
Come on, emoji makers! We can do this!
