Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bay Area Reporter - September 21, 2000
Terry Beswick
KGO Channel 7 has rejected a new federally-sponsored "HIV Stops With Me" commercial featuring seven HIV-positive "spokesmodels" arguing for taking responsibility for their personal health and for the health of their community.
Based on a telephone survey of the viewing habits of gay and bisexual men in San Francisco, the local social marketing firm that produced the commercial wanted to air the ad during the Oprah and Rosie O'Donnell talk shows, found to be the most popular shows on the ABC network. The station countered with an offer to air the commercials after 10 p.m.
"What KGO said is that children six or seven years old will see it and ask their parents about it and they won't know what to say," said Les Pappas, president of Better World Advertising, which produced the ads and had offered the station $12,000 to air them during daytime TV. "It's outrageous."
Targeted to HIV-positive gay men and transgenders in the Bay Area, the ads are part of a $350,000 social marketing campaign subcontracted to BWA û one component of a Department of Public Health $1,826,877 contract with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC also awarded funds to five other cities for demonstration projects designed to confine HIV within the HIV-positive community.
Edited in a rapid-fire style, there are no touching or kissing segments in the ad, and no genitalia or breasts are revealed.
"They are barechested but you see men without their shirts on all the time," said Pappas. "These are adult shows."
"I believe in being honest and open," Felicia Elizondo, the one spokesmodel that chooses to give her last name to the media, says in the ad.
"There's nothing sexual about it," Elizondo told the Bay Area Reporter.
"It's just spreading the HIV prevention message."
Adding to the controversy, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday, September 19 that Elizondo, a male-to-female transgender, is shown "holding her nipples" in the ad, viewable online at hivstopswithme.org.
In fact, the spokesmodel is shown with her arms crossed and covering her breasts with her hands. At no time is she shown holding her nipples
"I'm really upset," said Elizondo, 54, who underwent sexual reassignment surgery 25 years ago. "I'm a transgender woman, I'm HIV-positive and I'm taking responsibility for my life and the lives of other people."
Elizondo said the commercial is designed "like a jolt" to wake people up to the fact that the HIV epidemic is not over.
Concerned that there is an organized effort to block the commercial from the airwaves, Pappas is worried that KGO is not the only station that will make it harder for his ad to reach its intended audience.
"It's not over because now we have Channel 2 saying, 'We don't want to show it during The Simpsons.'"
Cheryl Cox, general sales manager for KTVU Channel 2, told the B.A.R. that the commercial would be aired on the station, but would not confirm that it would air during The Simpsons.
"These are real issues in this society," said Pappas. "It's not something parents and kids should be afraid of."
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