Finally, someone has come up with a fun and creative way to promote condom use without yelling and throwing scary statistics at the children. If kids won’t pay attention to the banana with a condom, surely they’ll get excited by this giant bus with professional athletes!

The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health announced the maiden voyage of the city’s brand new 40-foot “condom mobile” yesterday, making its debut at Long Beach Pride. In an effort to promote condom use and safer sex, this giant rubber dispensary will be distributing designer condoms to the folks of L.A. for the rest of the year.

The condoms’ design are the product of a contest held by the Los Angeles County Public Health Division of HIV and STD Program last year, challenging artists to design an official Los Angeles branded condom wrapper. With over 500 entires and more than 185,000 votes, this is what they chose (below).

In addition to being the coolest bus in town, the condom mobile will also be the hottest. Splashed across the ads for this year-long campaign are some of the finest openly gay athletes from the LA Flag Football League, Lambda Basketball and The Greater LA Softball Association.

“Gay athletes have always been in sports and we’re delighted some professional athletes have made steps to live their life honestly in the public’s eye,” said Lambda Basketball Vice President Garsten Bergquist. “Health education and community service are a part of our mission, so we’re happy to help promote a healthy lifestyle – whether it’s staying active by playing in a team sport or by using condoms and getting tested regularly for HIV or STDs.”

Way to go, LA! The condom mobile makes us happy, but we’re even happier that it’s not actually shaped like a condom. Could you imagine what it would look like parked in front of the Oscar Mayer weinermobile?

Residents can find a full list of locations distributing free condoms year round in Los Angeles County at www.LAsexsymbol.com.