BOSTON, March 16, 2017 /CNW/ -- Canada is world famous for its butter tarts, maple syrup and love of hockey, but soon it will also be known as the first country to have its own condom collection. In honour of Canada's 150th Anniversary, ONE® Condoms today announced the ONE Canada Design Contest — inviting Canadians to design and vote for unique condom wrappers that best represent and celebrate Canadian life, love, culture and history.

The 10 winning contest designs, to be known as the ONE Canada Condom Collection, will include the top five most popular designs, as well as five regional winners (Northern Canada, Western Canada, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada). After the submission period, a combination of voting by a panel of guest judges and the public will help determine the winners.

Each of the 10 winners will receive a cash prize, a year's supply of condoms featuring their winning artwork, an artist profile at onecondoms.ca, and a donation of up to 10,000 condoms to their Canadian health organization of choice. ONE will also donate a total of 150,000 condoms to various Canadian organizations dedicated to promoting sexual health education and outreach.

"We're very excited to launch our first-ever Canadian condom wrapper collection. For more than a decade, our condom wrapper design contests have given people a platform to express their passion for art and sexual health," said Davin Wedel, founder and president of ONE Condoms. "We can't wait to see the creative submissions representing and celebrating what it means to be ONE Canada!" added Wedel. 

Condoms are the most effective way to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies. ONE was founded in 2004 with the core belief that if you put interesting and engaging artwork on condom wrappers, it helps start a conversation about the use of condoms and safer sex. ONE's signature, circular condom wrappers feature hundreds of different designs and unique design collections.

In 2015, ONE partnered with celebrated New York street artists to create a condom collection to address the disproportionately higher rates of HIV in urban centres as part of its Lust for Life campaign. ONE has also helped to host local condom wrapper design contests in cities such as Los Angeles, as a way to promote positive engagement about sexual health. Most recently, ONE partnered with Toronto Public Health to launch the condomTO contest for the public to design the official Toronto Condom, and Ottawa Public Health for their Ottawa 2017 condom campaign.

"We believe that colourful and relevant artwork on condom wrappers serves as a conversation starter and helps break down stigma around sexual health education and outreach. Self expression is a cornerstone at ONE, and our design contests allow artists and advocates to use their talents to start conversations about condoms," said Jared Maraio, senior director of brand strategy, ONE Condoms.

The deadline for the ONE Canada Design Contest submissions is May 7, 2017 (midnight EST), public voting will begin in May, and the winners will be announced this July. The collection will then be available through select retailers and distributed to public health clinics and health organizations across the country later this year. More contest information, including submission and voting details, is available at: www.onecondoms.ca/contest. (Rules and regulations apply.)

Follow the conversation on social media @onecondoms using the hashtag #DoItForCanada.

About ONE®
Launched in 2004, ONE® is a socially responsible business committed to raising sexual health awareness. ONE works with artists, health activists, and customers to make a difference in their community. As a leader in premium-branded condoms and lubricants in North America, ONE brings a fresh perspective to sexual health through a fusion of advanced product design, manufacturing technology and customer participation. ONE Condoms are available for purchase at onecondoms.ca and select retailers in Canada including Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix. 

ONE is a member of the Global Protection Corp. family of sexual health products. All ONE Condoms are manufactured by Karex Berhad, the world's largest condom manufacturer. A trusted partner for over 20 years, Karex Berhad purchased a stake in Global Protection in 2015 for the purpose of expanding the ONE brand throughout the world. For more information about ONE, go to onecondoms.ca.

SOURCE ONE® Condoms

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