Celebrate Valentine's Day With Free Artsy Condoms

NEW YORK, NY — Here's a piece of art you'll want to rip up. City health officials are giving away free condoms with custom artsy wrappers just in time for Valentine's Day — which also happens to be National Condom Awareness Day.

The Department of Health unveiled the first of four "limited-edition" condom wrappers featuring contemporary art pieces on Wednesday to kick off its "ARTCondomNYC" campaign to get New Yorkers excited about safe sex.

The first custom condom bears an ink-and-charcoal drawing titled "Spring" by the Los Angeles artist David John Attyah. The other three designs will be rolled out throughout this year and into early 2019, the Department of Health said.

"Our goal is to supplement the already powerful activities of the public health community by introducing an unexpected artistic element to jumpstart condom use, reinvigorate conversations about our sexuality, and fortify our common sense of purpose and potential in getting creative and playing safe," Attyah said in a statement.

The Department of Health gave out more than 30 million condoms at bars, clubs, barber shops, hospitals and myriad other places last year as the NYC Condom initiative closed its first decade. The "ARTCondomNYC" campaign is part of the city's $23 million plan to slow the spread of HIV and AIDS, officials said.

If getting frisky is in the cards for your Valentine's Day, use the city's "Condom Finder" website to find out where to grab one of these limited-edition prophylactics. The city also gives away female condoms, personal lubricant and safe-sex kits that also include HIV prevention drugs.

(Lead image courtesy of NYC Department of Health)