Kesäkumi is a major annual Finnish campaign organized by the Finnish Red Cross (in Finnish Suomen Punainen Risti), the Family Federation of Finland (Väestöliitto) and Finnish radio station YleX (originally called Radiomafia).[1] Held every summer since 1996, it aims to encourage young people to prevent the spread of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) and informs and encourages them to safe sex through use of condoms, thus the name Kesäkumi (meaning "summer rubber" in Finnish).

The campaign is supported by major Finnish and international artists and free condoms are distributed throughout the summer events. The campaign is also followed through direct broadcasts by YleX radio that gains much bigger listening audiences during the festival.

Summer Rubber is a registered trademark held by Yle. The campaign was spearheaded by Radiomafia presenters Jusu Lounela and Eve Mantu. In later years, Kesäkumi partnered for an additional winter event that coincides with World AIDS Day.

Theme songs

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A major theme song is launched contributed each year by a lead artist in Finland that usually becomes a radio hit. In some years supergroup collaborations have been formed for the songs made up of more than one major band or group of performers. The theme songs until now:

References

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  1. ^ "Kesäkumi täyttää 20 vuotta: YleX esittelee biisit, esittäjät ja tarinat kampanjan kulisseista" [20 years of Kesäkumi: YleX introduces songs, performers and stories behind the campaign] (in Finnish). Yle. 2015-05-15. Retrieved 2021-06-05.