PRNewswire - September 19, 2000

The commercial premiered at a community event last week where it received tremendous support. Unlike other HIV prevention ads, this campaign is using paid television advertising rather than relying on public service airing. According to Mr. Les Pappas, President of Better World Advertising (the social marketing company who produced the ad), "This is outrageous. We have every right to buy the airtime to run this commercial. KGO should be helping us get this important prevention message out -- they should be a partner, not a barrier."

Better World Advertising conducted a survey to find out when Bay Area gay and bisexual men and transgenders watched television. The results of the survey helped determine during which shows the ad should be run to effectively reach that audience. Several ABC shows where chosen, including Oprah and Rosie O'Donnell. KGO is refusing to run the commercial during these shows.

"It seems that KGO is either HIV-phobic or Homophobic. There certainly isn't anything offensive or improper in this commercial," says Pappas. "These TV stations show all kinds of violent and explicit programs and at the same time they won't show a well-crafted, important HIV prevention commercial. It's ludicrous!"

HIV STOPS WITH ME is an empowering, integrated, nationally innovative demonstration project created to stop HIV infections by targeting HIV positive gay and bisexual men and transgenders in San Francisco with effective HIV prevention efforts. HIV positive gay and bisexual males and transgenders have taken the lead in HIV prevention from the beginning of the epidemic and are doing so again in this campaign. This campaign is about acknowledging the unique struggles that positives face in keeping themselves healthy and keeping their partners safe.

The HIV STOPS WITH ME campaign also includes a web site, http://www.hivstopswithme.org, where people can read about and interact with the spokesmodels, and accompanying newspaper/magazine ads and postcards.

Better World Advertising (http://www.socialmarketing.com) a San Francisco-based social marketing firm, was chosen by the San Francisco Department of Public Health to produce an HIV/AIDS prevention social marketing television, internet and print campaign for the city of San Francisco. The overall project is an innovative, community-based HIV prevention initiative, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and coordinated by San Francisco's Department of Public Health. One of five such programs in the United States, the project's goal is to help end the HIV epidemic in San Francisco by facilitating and maintaining risk reduction efforts among HIV positive persons.

SOURCE Better World Advertising Web Site: http://www.socialmarketing.com

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