This Challenger Condom Brand Wants to Break Taboos Around Women's Sexual Health

It started with an awkward run-in with a boss. In 2017, Farah Kabir was working as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs when she popped into a store on her lunch break to pick up a few items: food, deodorant, face wipes and a pack of condoms. While waiting in line, she bumped into her boss—and quickly realized the brightly colored condom box was visible in her shopping basket. “I was really embarrassed,” Kabir recalled. “But my embarrassment soon turned to frustration. When you look at the sexual health market, all the products are garishly packaged, they’re all about men’s conquest, and women are frustrated by the choices available.” From that embarrassing moment, Kabir and her friend Dr. Sarah Welsh were inspired to take on the condom industry themselves. Their startup Hanx—which sells condoms, lubricant, contraceptive pills and other intimate care products in the U.S. and U.K.—is a “sexual wellness brand designed with women in mind,” said Kabir. Adidas Defends Bare Breasts Creative as UK Regulator Bans Ads However, as they've built the brand, Hanx's founders have also encountered persistent marketing challenges and biases facing businesses by and for women. “I worked in a male-dominated industry [finance], but never faced any real gender disparity until now,” Kabir said. “What we’re doing is still taboo.” Speaking to women When Kabir and Welsh set up Hanx in 2017, they scanned store shelves of condoms and found the typical dominant names—Durex, Trojan—with packaging and slogans that blurred together. No brand seemed to cater to the women they knew or their own experiences. In her career as a gynecologist, Welsh had also treated many women for STIs who reported common hang-ups around condom use: The products could cause irritation, they assumed their male partners would carry them, or they were embarrassed to buy them in stores. “The products often speak to men,” Kabir said. “No brand has thought about female pleasure when it comes to condoms.” Tinder ‘Swipes Right’ on Inclusive Global Campaign to Court Gen Z Daters Hanx is trying to change this in a couple of ways. The first is in the development of its products, which are medically endorsed, sustainable and natural. Its condoms are made from latex that has been responsibly sourced and traded, and don't contain chemicals like glycerin and spermicide, which Welsh and other gynecologists have linked to a higher risk of developing a UTI. With its neutral tones, the packaging also stands apart on the condom shelf because it more closely resembles the aesthetic of a beauty or lifestyle product, Kabir said. Hanx products have a neutral aesthetic that blends in with the beauty aisle. “If a condom that is garish and in-your-face fell out of your bag, you might feel a bit more embarrassed—but less so if it fits in with beauty products,” she explained. Hanx products are currently sold online and in major U.K. retail chains including Boots, Superdrug, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Ocado. It also offers a subscription service for those who would prefer some online anonymity. But it is not just women who are gravitating toward Hanx’s aesthetic, according to Kabir, with 40% of online purchases being made by men. "They also feel a similar shame and embarrassment,” she added. Countering shame On the subject of shame, Hanx’s marketing tries to eradicate it with a “real and relatable tone of voice” and by breaking taboos surrounding sex. Its latest campaign, which launched on Valentine’s Day, is about vaginismus, a condition in which the involuntary contraction of vaginal muscles can cause penetrative sex or tampon use to be painful or impossible. Though doctors believe as many as one in two people with vaginas will experience vaginismus at some point in their lives, the condition is shrouded in stigma, and many lack the knowledge or resources to access help. Hanx's campaign launched on Valentine's Day. Created by Scottish agency Leith and titled “Let’s Open Up,” the campaign includes U.K. outdoor and social ads, some of which resemble Valentine's Day cards, directing people to a website with information on the condition. It will culminate with an event on International Women's Day (March 8) in London, where attendees can talk honestly about vaginismus and pleasure. That underlying mission of encouraging sex positivity and openness also led to the creation of Hanx’s online community, Hanx Life Forum, which hosts content and a chatroom to discuss topics ranging from libido to hot flashes to periods. The community has grown organically, according to Kabir, reflecting people’s desire for shame-free sex education and trustworthy information. Hanx wants to offer open, sex positive education “I grew up not talking about sex, and sex education in school was not great either. We were told not to have sex because you’d get an STI or pregnant, but there was nothing about relationships or pleasure,” she said. “It’s super important for brands to take a stand to educate women on owning their sexual health.” Facing bias But this goal comes with a host of challenges. In its marketing efforts, Hanx has faced ad bans on platforms including Meta and Google, where content about women’s bodies is often flagged as explicit. This issue has been reported by other femtech brands such as Elvie. It also means that, like those other brands dealing with women’s health, Hanx must sometimes rely on guerrilla marketing tactics and other creative ways to get its message out. For example, in September, it built a flower garden in the Shoreditch neighborhood of London where people could scan faux flowers that held condoms and learn about sustainability and Hanx’s products. The activation drew more than 1,000 visitors in one day. Facing censorship on digital platforms, Hanx has sometimes used more unconventional marketing tactics “We’re a sexual wellness brand, but that doesn’t mean we have to look seedy and sordid,” Kabir said. Hanx’s founders have also encountered gender bias in the tech and business worlds. Many other female founders in tech have reported struggling to attract investor interest; for instance, femtech received only 3% of all health tech funding in 2020. The fact that Hanx deals with sex adds another challenge due to vice clauses that restrict where a venture capitalist (VC) fund can invest its money. These restrictions usually cover areas such as tobacco, guns and sex. Hanx has so far raised about $2.1 million (1.8 million pounds), but Kabir has been shocked by the misogyny she has seen as a female founder. “We’ve been told, 'We’re two young women, what do we know about a male-dominated industry?' And, ‘Are women really going to buy condoms?’ We’ve had it all under the sun.” Nevertheless, Hanx launched in the U.S. last year and is seeking further investment to scale the business internationally. It has also widened its ambition to address all aspects of women’s health journeys, from pleasure to fertility to menopause, in its content and products. “Sarah and I looked at the women’s health space and found it’s not just sexual health that’s archaic. There’s no brand that connects the milestones [of a woman’s life],” Kabir said. “Women need this more than ever.”