Only those planning to actually use prophylactics asked to line up, but with one big loophole.

As promised, on July 2 the organizers of a publicity event for new anime Love and Lies showed up in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, the center of otaku culture, to hand out free condoms to promote the TV series’ July 3 broadcast premiere. But while sex and romance are two major themes of the show, this was an unusual promotion even by the heavily niche baseline of anime marketing, especially for a yet-to-air show. Sure, as an adaptation of the manga of the same name, Love and Lies has a bit of a preexisting fanbase, but would they show up in large numbers to get themed condoms?

Yes, yes they would.

Japanese Twitter user @kaztsu happened to be in the area last Sunday (to attend a public viewing of a Japanese professional soccer match at the Akihabara UDX building) and was walking past the Tora no Ana anime specialty shop, one of three locations where the Love and Lies condoms, decorated with character artwork and the series’ logo, were being distributed, and snapped a photo of the massive, six-person-wide line for the freebies. There was also a huge horde at Gamers, another distribution point, which @kaztsu estimated consisted of some 300 condom-desiring otaku.

The fact that the condoms were being given out by attractive young women in snappy attire probably didn’t hurt demand. But with supply limited, @kaztsu overheard the staff of Tora no Ana call out a request to the ever-lengthening queue, which was:

“Please only line up if you intend to actually use the condom!”

This might seem like an odd request, since some would argue “guys who want condoms with anime girls on the wrapper” and “guys who’re going to be sleeping with a real girl in the immediate future” are two demographics with minimal overlap. Perhaps realizing this, the Tora no Ana staff did a bit of fine-tuning to the request by once again shouting:

“Please only line up if you intend to actually use the condom, even if you’re going to use it all by yourself.”

After all, even if there’s no chance of getting a 2-D girlfriend pregnant, using a condom is likely to help keep the resale value of those anime figures high.

Source: Jin