There are some products people universally hate purchasing.  For women, it’s pads.  For men, it’s condoms.  It doesn’t matter how old you are either.  But for many sexually active men, it’s a necessary evil.  Notwithstanding man’s hatred for purchasing condoms, some Wal-Marts have decided to make it more inconvenient to purchase condoms.  Whereas condoms used to be located near the pharmacy, I’ve noticed that some Wal-Marts are now placing condoms behind a cashier along with tobacco products and lottery tickets.  This is a relatively bold move for Wal-Mart.  Heck, you can still purchase condoms in the regular aisles at more conservative stores like Publix.

I asked an employee why the store moved them and she told me that it was because people opened the packages and stole condoms.  While I understand their desire to curb theft, placing condoms behind the cashier is not the optimal solution.

Unlike tobacco products, condoms save lives by reducing the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection or disease.  They are also highly effective in preventing pregnancy.  Moreover, I’m willing to guess that these individuals stealing condoms are young and/or from lower-income households because many adults don’t use condoms and the ones who do are not going to risk their job for taking a condom out of a box.  Also, middle class individuals have more resources to pay for birth control pills (and are more likely to shop at Target).

Rather than having a bunch of adolescents and/or lower-income individuals forego using a condom because they don’t want to look the cashier in the eye, we should be encouraging condom use.  I am confident that many of these individuals would have considered using a condom if there was less embarrassment attached with purchasing condoms.

My opinion may not count for much, but I think I’ve figured out a way for condoms to be more accessible and less susceptible to theft: place them near the self-checkout lane.  The number one reason why people hate purchasing condoms is because they have to walk around the store with it.  The second reason is –even if no one else is in the store– the cashier will see the purchase.  Placing condoms near (not necessarily right in front of) the self-checkout line will allow users to discreetly purchase condoms without having to face a human cashier.  Also, because this area is more open than the aisles near the pharmacy, there should be less theft.

Wal-Mart does a lot of bragging about how it helps families and communities.  If the retailer is serious about helping families and communities, taking measures to cut down on unplanned parenthood, especially amongst teenagers and lower-income individuals, seems like a good starting point.

*I was doing a Google Image search and came across this article that makes the exact same argument, except the retailer was CVS.