Schmid Laboratories

The world's largest condom manufacturer, Schmid Laboratories, has launched a two-month advertising campaign with taxis, bus shelters and San Francisco's famous cable cars displaying black-letter ads, declaring "For extra protection--Ramses condoms." Schmid President Don Falk conceded that the AIDS crisis created opportunities for manufacturers by expanding the market and increasing public tolerance for selling condoms. City officials agreed that the time has come for condom advertising.

Four of the nation's most popular condom brands permitted the AIDS virus to escape in laboratory tests conducted for UCLA, prompting researchers to warn users they should not assume that all condoms work equally well in preventing spread of the disease. The researchers found that the AIDS virus leaked in one of the 10 condoms tested in each of three brands, and six of 25 tested in the fourth.

Fox Broadcasting Co. said Monday that it will become the first of the four major television networks to accept paid advertisements for condoms. Fox President Jamie Kellner confirmed that the network would accept the ads, but only if they talked exclusively about disease control, not contraception.

American television history of sorts took place on Fox Broadcasting Co. on Sunday night when the maverick network brushed aside a long-held taboo by nationally broadcasting a condom commercial. The 15-second spot for Trojan brand condoms aired during the off-beat teen show "Herman's Head." It was viewed by about 7 million households nationally--and 450,000 locally. The ad features a close-up shot of a young redheaded man who says, "I'm a nice guy and go out with nice girls.

A committee studying revisions in condom manufacturing standards, which are due to expire at the end of this year, has tentatively decided to propose no major changes for the moment but will evaluate a new testing procedure that could lead to more stringent standards, the Times learned Wednesday. The chairman of the working group refused on Wednesday to discuss details of the deliberations but other members said the decision was reaffirmed Tuesday in a closed meeting in Cincinnati.

An ongoing federally funded UCLA study has uncovered dramatic differences among 31 condom brands in their ability to protect against leakage of the AIDS virus, The Times has learned. Preliminary rankings from the study--and related test results that evaluated some products for their ability to impede the spread of the AIDS virus--indicate that at least eight condom brands offer excellent protection against the virus while at least five are of apparently questionable effectiveness.

It's been more than two months since Fox Broadcasting created a storm of publicity as the first broadcast television network to agree to air commercials for prophylactics. But to date the network has aired just one 15-second spot, for Trojan condoms. Fox executives said that "a few" additional ads have been presented since Trojan, a division of the pharmaceutical giant Carter-Wallace, ran a 15-second spot Nov. 17 during the program "Herman's Head."

This may not be the time to play "Stormy Weather," but two readers have sent out distress signals about hurricane lamps. Joan Rice of Huntington Park is trying to replace 1 1/2-inch chimneys and candles for two lamps, but she can't find anything that fits. And L. A. Trout of La Mirada is hoping to replace the glass fixture on his hurricane lamp.

Seven years ago, Malaysia's rubber industry faced declining prices and increasing competition from other Southeast Asian nations to be the world's leading supplier of raw latex. While Malaysia remains a major exporter of the commodity, it has in the intervening years developed a substantial manufacturing segment that has become a leading exporter of finished rubber products--chiefly gloves and condoms--and thus added value to a flagging natural-resource industry.