Panda Licorice Survey Reveals That 20% of Teens Have Sent 'Sexts'

March 12, 2010 - PRLog -- Forget cards containing innocent poems or declarations of love delivered by the old fashioned anonymous school postal system this Valentine’s Day. Today’s teens are much more likely to be texting pictures of their naked body parts to those they fancy.

Once upon a time envelopes embossed with a fruity lipstick kiss and S.W.A.L.K. (sealed with a loving kiss) was risque enough to have gym slip girls giggling down the corridors and boys blushing in delight, but times have changed. 

Research by cherry fruit flavour Panda Licorice shows the alarming regularity with which today’s youth send each other sexy texts as a way of declaring their interest in one another. 32% of guys have admitted to doing this as a way of introducing themselves to girls they have a crush on or want to date. 39% of teens and 59% of young adults admitting to having sent sexually explicit text messages, known as ‘sexts’.*** Another UK survey of people aged 11 to 18 found that 38% had received an "offensive or distressing" sexual image via text or email.**

On any average day in the UK, 1.5m texts are sent and with hormone levels soaring as we approach the most lovestruck day of the year, there are fears of a torrent of inappropriate texts.

So, in an attempt to maintain Valentine’s Day as simply flirtatious fun, healthy snack company Panda Licorice offered to play cupid, by giving free raspberry licorice bars to people who posted their fruity flirtations on its Facebook page, landoflicorice with a month's supply up for grabs for the sweetest message.

Lisa Gawthorne, Panda Licorice International Marketing Manager, explains, “Valentine’s Day is very exciting as a teenager and we hope everyone can enjoy it and have some fun without getting too fruity!  We’ll be moderating the posts to ensure that there’s nothing offensive and will reward the sweetest comments by giving them free raspberry Panda bars. We’d love to see people post pics of their cards too.

“We all recognise that teenagers are maturing ever faster these days but we hope that they can retain some innocence and just enjoy having some fun while they’re young. We just want them to be aware that if they send ‘sexts’ including pictures of themselves partially naked, they don’t know who else may end up seeing it which could cause them a lot of embarrassment, so it’s safer not to bother. “   Panda Licorice has just launched a new fat free cherry flavour aimed at teenagers following the success of a raspberry variety last year.

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For more information and samples please contact the Panda team at Smoking Gun PR on 0161 921 8164 or email panda@smokinggunpr.co.uk or visit http://www.smokinggunpr.co.uk

*stats from a survey by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, ** stats from research by beatbullying.org *** Colorado college research


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Panda Licorice has been producing the world’s leading premium quality, soft eating, fresh licorice since 1927 and boasts an amazing 80 years of continued production at the all famous Panda Factory in Finland. The real original Panda Licorice flavour has always fascinated people everywhere with its soft, aromatic and deceptively delicious tones.

Over the years in responce to an ever growing loyal fan base, the Panda range has grown from three original products born in health stores (Natural Bar, Multipack and Licorice Cuts) to an impressive range of over ten mouth wateringly delicious products - making the brand No.1 for Licorice choice.

Panda is the original brand to pioneer the healthier confectionery category and it continues to lead the category year-on-year as more consumers become aware of their health and seek out those perfect healthier, guilt free, great tasting treats.