• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, July 2, 2012

I’m not sure why condoms were on my list of things you could never market using social media, since, obviously, you can; you just need a moderately naughty idea, a gangsta rapper, his bodacious wife, and a small dose of topical anesthetic.

On that note Durex has introduced a new Facebook app to help couples “sync up” their lovemaking by choosing the right song. Playing on the tagline for the new Performax condom brand -- which is designed “to speed her up and slow him down” with a numbing benzocaine lubricant among other features -- the Facebook app asks couples to answer questions about their technique in order to choose the perfect mood music. It’s being promoted on Facebook with a commercial set to (you’ll never guess) Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”

It’s all part of a strategy to steal U.S. market share away from dominant brand Trojan, which also includes a partnership with celebrity spokescouple Ice T and Coco, who hosted a Facebook event and Twitter party that generated around four million impressions, according to Ad Age. The brand hopes to build social media buzz by reaching that crucial target of “sexfluencers” -- a group of people whose attributes, attitudes, and online activities I can only dimly begin to imagine, but who doubtless exist and play an important role sexfluencing prophylactic purchase decisions.

Despite my earlier skepticism, social media is already selling condoms (and other contraceptives) like hotcakes, according to the 2011 Contraceptive Social Marketing Statistics report from DKT International, a social marketing nonprofit working in Africa, Latin America, and Asia; the report tallies up 83 social marketing programs last year, which sold an impressive 2.3 billion condoms, 184 million oral contraceptives, and nearly 2 million IUDs.