If there's one thing eggplants have become synonymous with over the years, it's a certain part of the male anatomy. While the aubergine, as it’s known in other parts of the world, has always had a distinctly phallic shape to it (OK, fine, it looks like a dick. Are you happy now?) thanks to the popularity of the purple eggplant emoji and sexting, the food is more closely linked to boning than ever.

Still, the only thing more common on social media than a purple, penis-shaped emoji is trolling, so Durex decided to have a little fun at Twitter's expense on Labor Day when it announced plans to release an eggplant-flavored condom.  

Naturally, Twitter went crazy over the announcement, musing on how terrible an eggplant-flavored condom would taste, and noting that the food's name (i.e. the planting of eggs...) actually goes against the entire point of using a condom. 

Before things got completely out of control, the company explained that its newest creation was actually a joke—one they hoped would spark a conversation about safe sex. Instead of people relying on an eggplant to symbolize a schlong​, Durex hopes to see a condom emoji to help promote contraception. 

"Durex knows there is no place for an aubergine when it comes to safe sex," a spokesperson for Durex told the Mirror. "It's just as questionable, in fact, as a decision not to introduce a Safe Sex Emoji to empower young people to talk about sex, safely, in a language they are comfortable with."

Earlier this year, a group of Taiwanese college students launched a similar project when they designed a line of "cute," food-themed condoms in the hopes of encouraging young women to feel more comfortable purchasing prophylactics.

Still, an eggplant-flavored condom—as questionable as it may seem—has got to be better than the durian-flavored condom some mad scientist introduced in Asia this summer. As one of the most foul tasting foods known to man, it seems unlikely that the fruit also deserves a place in the bedroom. And while an eggplant condom may not actually be in the works, as of last month, aubergine fanatics can enjoy a "healthy serving of vitamin D" with the eggplant-shaped "Emojibator." 

[via Complex]