If you’re managing the Durex presence in the social sphere, you’re already playing with fire. There’s a fine line between funny and phenomenally inappropriate.

The Durex South African brand (@DurexSA) learned that lesson on Friday when it tweeted a series of jokes that were overwhelmingly considered offensive, misogynistic, and generally poor form.

We won’t publish the jokes here, but you can find them at Memeburn.com.

Rather than immediately apologize to those who were offended, Durex went on the defensive, saying the brand had posted similar jokes in the past and no one had complained. The company changed its tune on Sunday, removing the “irresponsible” tweets.

The company’s marketing director Faisal Hashmi also issued this apology to blogger Jen Thorpe, who took Durex to task for its actions:

“Durex respects and supports the rights of women and men to have a healthy, safe and fulfilling sex life. The statements that appeared on our South Africa Twitter feed yesterday were posted by our PR agency in South Africa–Euro RSCG. They were offensive and inappropriate and do not reflect the views of the Durex brand. We apologize unreservedly for the fact that this has happened and have already taken steps to ensure that this situation cannot arise again.”

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