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Detroit Sex and Relationships Examiner, September 8, 2009
Although you'd never guess humble beginnings from SENSIS condoms' website, advertisement, edgy new contest, and packaging, the idea was sparked out of real-life frustration, one person deciding: "There's gotta be a better way to do this".
Recently I interviewed Beau Thompson, the President of Grove Medical LCC and the inventor of SENSIS condoms with QuikStrips (commonly misspelled as Quick Strips or QuickStrips). He was friendly, and more comfortable referring to himself as simply a "mechanical person" who originated the idea for SENSIS condoms: with pull-tabs ("textured verus smooth ridges, so you know which way is up"-- the ridges are on top if the condom's oriented correctly), more room at the tip, and more lubrication inside and out.
The "moment in question" when his idea was born was this slapstick real-life situation:
"The lights were out, and I wasn't sure which direction the condom was facing. It was just like, 'Oh, great!' So I opened up the shade. There were no lights outside, only down at the end of the block. I leaned out the window, trying to hold the condom up to the streetlight to get a better view..."
It was then he knew that he needed to come up with a solution-- not just for himself.
"I wanted to fix 90% of the problems that come with regular condoms", Thompson says. And it's true there are quite a few. According Kinsey Institute research:
- 32% of research participants lost erections with condom use
- 40% did not leave space at tip
- 30% placed the condom upside down
Thompson quotes these facts, too, and with SENSIS' features, feels he's made a contribution that might eliminate these issues (quicker condom application to help guard against lost erections, for example).
The advertisements also proclaim QuikStrips make for a more arousing sexual experience-- that the process of putting on a condom with QuikStrips is "hotter". Why? I wasn't sure either, so I asked.
"Something like 40% of purchasers of condoms are females..." Thompson says. "Our main goal is to make sex safer, that's key. But sex is an interactive experience, sex is about sharing." Therefore, his goal is to make it easier/more convenient for women who wouldn't usually help put a condom on their partners. No lube on hands and easy-orienting strips, mean female partners might be more inclined to help, since it's "easier to apply", he says. Which could, indeed, be hotter.
In the conclusion to my article, continue to part two of the interview for a discussion of marketing, childhood sex ed, and more!
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