On Thursday, Public Health England released statistics showing a five per cent increase in STIs in London’s 16 to 24 year olds.

Norway… has an astonishingly high STI rate and the twenty-somethings won’t respond to traditional public service announcements, what else is there to do but dress a man up as a giant penis and get him to shower unsuspecting people with glitter?

RFSU, a Norwegian sex education charity, have done exactly that. They hired student Philip van Eck to wear a huge phallus costume in a bid to raise awareness of STIs and get the young people of Norway to wear condoms. The stunt has been picked up in general by the internet, sites like www.stdaware.com/test-centers are reposting Philip’s tips and spreading his message.

19-year-old van Eck told told Tønsberg Blad: “I thought it was hilarious. If I can help others, just by being a dick, there is nothing better.”

According to RFSU, 23,000 Norwegians contract chlamydia every year, and are a lot less likely to wear condoms than their Nordic neighbours.

Although the ‘Penis Can Surprise You’ campaign is proving a hit with youngsters, it hasn’t been well-received by the over 30s, who have labelled it “banal and idiotic”.

[Source: Huffington Post UK]