Brazil Carnival kissers get anti-germ mouthspray

Serial kissers at Brazil's racy Carnival parades can now swap saliva with even more revellers thanks to a mouth spray designed to fight germs, just one of many weird products companies have launched to profit from traditionally libidinous revelry.

The spray was launched by a local company for Carnival celebrations this weekend in Salvador, the heart of Brazil's African culture, and Sao Paulo, its biggest city. French kissing among strangers is rife during Carnival.

Its slogan was "Kiss a lot, kiss pleasurably, kiss safe."

"Beije," or "Kiss," is made with propolis, or bee hive glue. Though propolis has long been used in natural medicine, many health experts disagree about its positive effects.

Still, propolis extracts from tropical Bahia state have special qualities that fight microorganisms and boost the immune system, Brazilian researchers say.

A 35-milliliter bottle of mouthspray will sell for 5 reais (1.35 pounds) and the local Naturapi company hopes to sell more than 100,000 bottles during the bash.

Other companies or groups are selling revealing costumes, flavoured condoms, drag costumes and even small patches of glitter to cover genitalia during the celebrations.

The government is distributing 25 million free condoms during Carnival this year to promote safe sex as part of its acclaimed anti-AIDS program, which provides free antiretroviral drugs for all HIV-positive Brazilians.

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posted by nscafuro @ 1:42 PM