Monday, December 7, 2020

Spirit of Place: Durex from Birmingham


How come I didn't know there was/is a brand of sellotape called Durex?

Say Durex to someone British and as well as feeling slightly embarrassed they will think of the brand of prophylactic that is know owned by Reckitt Benckiser but used to be a product of the London Rubber Company.

Some of you might remember a routine that comedian Jasper Carrott performed in which he described seeing a racing car in Australia with Durex written on it as an advertising slogan. He relayed how he was perplexed that the Australian’s he was with didn’t find this as amusing as he did. He was then told that rather than being a brand of condom at the time Durex was a major brand of sticky tape in Australia, an Antipodean equivalent of 3M Scotch Tape or Sellotape.


I don’t know if you can still get it in Australia but an internet search suggests that Durex sticky tape is available in Brazil and that it is made by 3M who also make Scotch Tape. Source

I doubt it's still made in the Second City though. 

2 comments:

  1. Jasper Carrott! Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long while. I have vague but fond memories of watching Carrott Confidential and Carrot's Commercial Breakdown. And - after a quick visit to Wikipedia - I've just discovered that Lucy Davis is his daughter (or, possibly, rediscovered - I have a very vague notion that I may have known this in the distant past).

    Anyway, back to the point: Durex!

    * titters like a schoolgirl *

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Titter ye not!
      I'm torn about Lucy Davis because she is technically from Solihull, but it's hard to imagine Jasper Carrott's daughter not being Brummy and the association would drive Solihull people up the wall!

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