China Prepares For Heavy Smog By Buying Lots Of Condoms.

It's no new news that China has a horrible air quality problem, and it's only been getting worse. Earlier this month, Beijing, the nation's capital, was issued its first-ever 'red alert', a severe government warning that encourages citizens to stay indoors as much as possible and to use extreme caution when having to go outside is necessary.

Normally, this causes a surge in online sales. With families no longer being able to go outside, commerce shifts from shopping malls to computer screens, with residents buying anything from first aid supplies to sportswear, so they can catch up on some exercise once the air clears up.

Oh, yeah. And they're also buying condoms. Uncommon amounts of them, in fact.


According to, a national Amazon equivalent, the gap between condoms purchased in smog-heavy cities versus ones with clearer air widened considerably during the first couple weeks of December. It even got to a point where, by December 10, the number of condoms sold each day was consistently surpassing the number of air purifiers and masks. (You know, those things they probably need to help them breathe?!)

The website concludes the surge in condom sales comes with a good explanation:

"People have greater concerns of good child bearing [in air-polluted cities] and try to prevent getting pregnant on smoggy days."


You can draw your own conclusions as to why Beijing has been getting (safely) down a lot more in the past few weeks, or if you're a completely immature human being like myself, you can tell everyone this story and follow it up with an "Air pollution and chill?"

Let me know why YOU think, and for more WTF news, follow my WTF Street Journal collection.

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