But what if the underwear itself isn't the message, but the slogan on it? In the grand tradition of t-shirt protests, like the slyly anti-corporate parodies propagated by Laugh It Off, you can get it off your chest by putting it on your chest.

But unless you're an exhibitionist or a terminal flasher, it's a little trickier to get your message out when it's undercover. Slogans on underthings are notably limited to more intimate encounters (which is particularly worrying when considering little girls' panties available in major department store chains that proclaim "eye candy").

And that's exactly what the developers of "In Brief: what if UR undies had the last word?" are counting on. It's a contest for American teens to come up with a slogan that will raise awareness about STIs and give shy teens a way of broaching a formidable subject. As the cutesy promo video indicates, if you can't say it yourself, you can let your undies say it for you.

It's hard to imagine two teens getting hot and heavy only to be stopped short by a silly slogan on scants and go on to have a serious heart-to-heart about herpes and HIV and preventing unwanted pregnancies.

Maybe I'm a cynic, or maybe it's the quality of the entries on the competition website which range from the obvious "no glove, no love" to the quaintly prudish "my momma always told me until you see the ring, don't play with his thing" or the blatantly judgemental "you may like to get down and dirty, but I like to stay clean".

It's a little disheartening that a lot of the entries lean towards negative, preachy and decidedly unsexy. (Although I did snicker at the proud 'n' positive message pasted front and back on a pair of y-fronts that proclaimed "Admission Includes: No STDs. No pregnancies. 1 Hell of a Night")

Practice vs Principle
The only way I could see this campaign working is that it's a major turn-off. If I was a teen girl I would run a mile from a guy who advertised, "if you want to tap it, you've got to cap it" on his jocks.

In my experience, it's the people who aren't shy or have trouble expressing themselves who lean towards advertising their opinions or sense of self with slogans. Consider the mullets who wear "muff diver" tees or that hackneyed classic, "one tequila, two tequila, three tequila floor".

I just can't see teens wearing STD-awareness undies, even if they come with cool condom pockets.

But then, maybe that's not the point.

Maybe the point is that its already working, not in practice but in principle. By getting teens to come up with creative designs and slogans to brand underwear, they're engaging with the subject – and getting journos on the other side of the planet to engage as well.

The same way Panties for Peace didn't stop the junta, but got a whole lot of people talking about it, In Brief knows that sex sells debate.

What slogan would you wear on your scants? Post comments below.