You have to admit, Japan really knows how to raise money for a good cause. First there was the charity breast squeeze back in August, which managed to raise over 4,000,000 yen (US$48,500) in two days, all of which was donated to an AIDS charity.
Now, in honor of World AIDS Day, Japanese adult goods maker TENGA is asking men across the globe to take matters into their own hands by selling a line of limited-edition designer male sex toys and donating all the proceeds to AIDS awareness and prevention.
Each toy was designed by one of twelve international fashion brands and artists, and will be sold as a part of the “Respect Yourself Project,” an annual fundraising initiative started by TENGA in 2010 to raise awareness and of AIDS and HIV in Japan and abroad.
Though the percentage of the population living with HIV/AIDS in Japan remains one of the lowest in the world (.01% as of 2006), the number of new cases have been increasing rapidly over the past few years, due to fear of social discrimination and overall lack of awareness among the general public, and apathy among the government and media.
According to Inter Press Service, the Japanese government bases their official HIV/AIDS statistics on tests, which greatly understates the actual figures. In addition, voluntary testing has been dropping in recent years, despite it being free, and the the use of condoms has plunged from 700 million annually in 2001 to 200 million in 2011, which has further contributed to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
TENGA, which has sold over 19 million male masturbation toys worldwide since production began in 2005, launched the Respect Yourself Project three years ago in hopes of reversing this trend.
As they explain on the Respect Yourself Project 2012 website:
Worlds AIDS Day is on December 1 and was established in 1988 to increase awareness of and fight the stigma surrounding people living with HIV and AIDS.
The TENGA Respect Yourself line-up will also go on sale December 1. Information on how to purchase the toys can be found on the website here.
How about it guys? Why not treat yourself to a TENGA for Worlds AIDS Day next month? We think you’ll find that donating to a good cause never felt so good.
Source: Tenga Global, World Aids Day
▼ The 2012 designs. We’d like to reiterate that these are not for decoration. They go on your penis.
