Suggestive condom wrappers prompt Utah health officials to destroy them all

The Utah Department of Health created Utah-themed, suggestive condom packaging as part of an HIV awareness campaign.

Now they will all be destroyed, health officials say.

“SL, UT” and other phrases such as “UINTAH sex?” and “Explore Utah’s caves” were a few of the suggestive sayings on the state-themed wrappers. Now officials are working to recall more than 40,000 condoms — and dispose of them, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

The condoms sparked outrage as Utah Gov. Gary Herbert ordered state health officials last week to stop distributing condoms, the Associated Press reported. The HIV prevention campaign also was halted.

While the campaign will now continue, the condoms won’t be part of it.

The department said in a news release that the “H is for Human” HIV prevention campaign has been reinstated, but the themed condoms will be retrieved from local partner agencies and the controversial condoms will be no more.

“The condoms came in ‘wallets’ which are small cardboard holders,” the health department said in the release. “The wallets with the Utah-themed messaging will be removed and destroyed. The latex condoms will then be redistributed to partner agencies as requested per normal procedures.”

The design supposedly didn’t go through the “necessary approval channels” the first time, and the health department previously said it regrets the “lewd nature of the branding.”

“The governor understands the importance of the Utah Department of Health conducting a campaign to educate Utahns about HIV prevention,” a statement from the governor’s office said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. “He does not, however, approve the use of sexual innuendo as part of a taxpayer-funded campaign, and our office has asked the department to rework the campaign’s branding.”

The condoms were paid for by a federal grant, according to Fox 13 Salt Lake City.

“We remain committed to running a campaign to help in the prevention of HIV and intend to do so in a manner that better respects taxpayer dollars, and our role as a government agency,” Utah Department of Health said in a release.

This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Suggestive condom wrappers prompt Utah health officials to destroy them all."