Parties, alcohol and a whole lot of lowered inhibitions – it's little wonder local authorities around the country see a rise in STIs and pregnancies among teenagers during the festive season. This is a key time, then, to get a safe sex message across, and the Leicestershire Teenage Pregnancy Partnership has opted for an interesting solution. The organisation has commissioned its marketing agency, Diva Creative, to produce a YouTube video resembling a retro platformer game, in which the hero must collect a condom before 'rescuing' his princess.

The fictitious game, inspired by classics like Super Mario Bros, is filled with authentic 2D visuals, sounds and platforming features, while various STIs are personified as onscreen enemies. At first, the lead character fails to catch a condom before it falls into a pit and he's subsequently turned away by his girlfriend at the end of the level. He then tries again, successfully picking up the contraceptive – the two characters then disappear into her house.

It's a funny, accurate parody of old skool games, and crucially the messaging is kept very simple. The video is certainly getting attention: released quietly on to YouTube last Friday it has now been picked up by international game sites like Kotaku and Joystiq. The Pregnancy Partnership will also seek to promote the video via the schools network. It has produced small credit-card sized leaflets featuring the relevant web address, which schools can hand out to year 10 and 11 pupils before Christmas. Teachers will also be supplied with DVD copies.

"We decided to develop the online campaign because many young people see social media sites like Facebook and YouTube as the most important things in their lives," explains campaign teams manager, Amy Richards. "It's vital to provide them with this message in a cool format that they're interested in."