PRNewswire - November 30, 2004

What: PRESS CONFERENCE-LA area Broadcast TV Stations Reject Anti- Syphilis Television Spot; AHF to Request Clarification from FCC

When: Tuesday, NOVEMBER 30th 10:30am

Where: in front of KCBS-TV2 6121 Sunset Blvd., (cross street: Gower) Hollywood CA 90028

Who: Karen Mall, AHF Director of Prevention and Testing Les Pappas, President & CEO, Better World Advertising Mary Adair, PA-C, Physician Assistant, AHF Global Immunity Clint Trout, AHF Associate Director, International Policy

Contact: Ged Kenslea, AHF Communications Director, 323.860.5225 w 323.791.5526m Karen Mall, AHF Director of Prevention and Testing 323.468.2581 w.

MEDIA NOTE: PHIL the Syphilis Sore -- a 6 Foot, Fire Engine Red Mascot/Character featured in the Rejected Spot-Will Be Present During the Press Conference. Also, AHF's Mobile Testing Van, with a Banner Reading, 'CBS: Censorship Breeds Syphilis' will be on Hand, as Well as Copies of the Television Spot for Media

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the nation's largest AIDS organization, will host a press conference Tuesday, November 30th, 2004 at 10:30am in front of KCBS-TV, the Los Angeles CBS affiliate in Hollywood (6121 Sunset Blvd.,) to denounce recent decisions by almost all local Southern California network television affiliates to reject a 30 second, 'Stop the Sores' paid public service announcement on syphilis prevention and testing, part of a social marketing campaign that features 'Phil, the Sore,' a six foot tall, colorful animated character. KCBS, along with KNBC, rejected airing the commercial outright in virtually any timeslot; WB, UPN and Fox offered alternative overnight timeslots and other day parts, most notably after 11:30pm. The Phil the Sore television spot previously ran for 5 weeks this summer on LA area cable channels including CNN, A&E, HGTV and Bravo. Because of the network affiliates' current rejection of the spot, the backers of the social marketing campaign have instead purchased additional time on such cable television channels.

AHF, which also operates the largest, community-based, alternative HIV testing program in California conducting more that 15,000 tests annually, coordinated the social marketing campaign of the innovative 'Stop the Sores' syphilis prevention campaign in greater Los Angeles in cooperation with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services STD Program and several other Southern California AIDS service organizations. The social marketing campaign, created by San Francisco-based Better World Advertising, features print and bus bench ads and billboards in a cartoon style. The television spot uses the same character-Phil, the Sore-in both animation form and as a live-action figure more akin to theme park or major league sports mascots. Les Pappas, President and CEO of Better World, is expected to attend and speak at the press conference.

"I am perplexed and saddened by this censorship by Los Angeles area broadcast television stations of an important, effective, and I believe fairly benign, public health message," said Karen Mall, AHF's Director of Prevention. "Since the Phil the Sore print and billboard campaign first began running here two years ago, syphilis rates have gone down in LA, and testing and screening have increased. It is unfortunate that we cannot utilize the enormous power of broadcast television to enhance the public health through such effective STD prevention messages."

"AHF fears a chilling effect of 'moral values' on safer sex education and outreach as evidenced by this move by CBS and other local broadcast stations," said Michael Weinstein, AHF president in a statement from Washington. "On the heels of the FCC furor over the Janet Jackson 'wardrobe malfunction,' it seems TV stations are now running scared, and as a result, they just say 'no!' to anything but their own bottom line. From, 'Desperate Housewives,' to, 'The OC,' to the number one rated show on television, CBS' own, 'CSI,' I can't understand how this paid public service announcement doesn't meet public or FCC broadcast standards any more than these programs that air weekly at 8 or 9pm."

Syphilis, a highly transmissible, yet readily curable sexually transmitted disease continues to wreak havoc in L.A. County and around the nation via an ongoing outbreak among men who have sex with men (MSM). In Spring, 2000, a syphilis outbreak was recognized among MSM in L.A. County. From 2000 through 2003, cases of early syphilis increased 462% among MSM. A total of 464 early syphilis cases were reported among MSM in 2003 (including men who have sex with both men and women, or MSM/W), representing two-thirds of all syphilis reported in the County in that year.

Now, the total MSM early syphilis cases (including MSM/W) are down to 251 cases, from 362 cases at the same point last year (a 31% reduction). And in a survey of MSM in 2003, 61% had been exposed to the 'Phil the Sore' campaign (had seen it). Men who had been exposed to the campaign were 3 times more likely to have tested for syphilis in the past 6 months than men who had not been exposed to the campaign. Exposure to the campaign was the only variable that was significantly associated with testing behavior (i.e., no other factor accounted for significant differences in testing behavior). For more information visit http://www.stopthesores.org.

"When we say, 'CBS: Censorship Breeds Syphilis,' we know that CBS is but one of many broadcast stations here in LA that have rejected this public health spot," said Ged Kenslea, AHF's Communications Director. "However, as we ask questions here in front of KCBS today, one of our L.A. County partners in this social marketing campaign uncovered this startling bit of syphilis censorship by CBS Radio -- in 1934 -- seventy years ago. The official noted:

'Dr. Thomas Parran, who eventually became Surgeon General under President Roosevelt, was a pioneer in the 1920's and 1930's in making syphilis a public health issue, instead of a moral issue. At that time, before antibiotics, syphilis was rather like HIV, both in its deadliness and the degree to which it was the subject of social taboos. In 1934, while state health commissioner of New York, Parran was scheduled to give a radio talk on CBS, but he refused to go on the air after learning that the network would not let him say the words "syphilis control" in the broadcast. Newspapers subsequently printed the censored speech, helping Parran's campaign against syphilis go forward, and the American Social Health Association responded by organizing a national letter writing campaign directed at CBS.'

"We fully intend to challenge what we believe is this blacklisting here in LA by seeking input or a ruling through the Federal Communications Commission in Washington," added AHF president Weinstein.

SOURCE AIDS Healthcare Foundation

041130
PR041141

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2004. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2004. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .