NYC Condoms

The Karma Cycle gives hearty approval to City Hall's NYC-branded condom campaign, which launched on this snowy Valentine's morning. The condoms, made by LifeStyles, are free and available at a growing number of locations. Any New York City establishment can sign up to distribute them. The more, the better. The Karma Cycle would be pleased to see them popping up in bodegas and bar bathrooms all across the city. Nobody likes condoms, but we all need to use them. So get out there, get yourself some snazzy new city-brand rubbers, and go enjoy yourselves. Well done, NYC, well done.

You can't get fitter than a breastfed nipper

Your friendly proprietor of The Karma Cycle is in the health business. With all the hullabaloo about trans-fats, bird flu, obesity and the rest of it, business is good. It seems that everywhere you turn in New York, there's an advisory for cootie testing, healthy food, sex toy safety or whatever issue of the moment the government is taking a swing at. But we're not the only ones with an abundance of health-themed advertising. Here are a few of the more interesting ones I've run across:

I think this old motorcycle safety poster is from Germany, though it's archived at University of Amsterdam. It's pretty badass.


This little gem from Scotland proves that rhyming and breastfeeding are not mutually exclusive.

This vintage military/communist-y morale booster is from 1932 Japan, and translates as "Safety Leads to Efficiency". Makes every day into a Monday after a long weekend.


Leave it to the good ol' American government to make the ladies feel special:


And China wins the gold medal for ominous, gross and disturbing health advertising.

Swallowing atomic bombs kills thousands of Chinese children each year.

MSG is very, very bad for you.

But the award for homo-erotic tuberculosis control posters goes to Japan (translation: "Prevent Tuberclosis", 1930). I have no idea how naked wrestling prevents TB, but I like it. Though I bet they had to beef up their budget for other prevention posters (syphilis, anyone??) the next year...


And last, a little subtlety as only the Australians can do it.