AEGiS-BAYW: LA HIV prevention ads pull no punches

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

LA HIV prevention ads pull no punches

Bay Windows - February 2, 2006
Ethan Jacobs, ejacobs@baywindows.com

It's hard to ignore a billboard of a grown man in a diaper, and that's what the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the country's largest AIDS organization, headquartered in Los Angeles, is counting on. Beginning last December AHF began rolling out a new HIV prevention social marketing campaign called "HIV - Not Fabulous" consisting of mobile billboards and ads in local LGBT media that show, in graphic detail, some of the less appealing health problems experienced by people living with HIV, both from the virus and from side-effects from AIDS medications. The campaign is also featured on a Web site, www.staynegative.org.

Karen Hall, AHF's director of prevention and testing, said in part the campaign was a reaction to the AIDS medication ads that depicted sexy, buff, healthy people accomplishing amazing physical feats like climbing mountains, ads that drew fire from both AIDS activists and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which in 2001 ordered companies to produce ads that more accurately reflect the health consequences of living with HIV. Hall said AHF was worried about complacency among HIV negative men in L.A. County, and the ads hope to address that complacency.

"We tested about seven or eight concepts and this by far was the one that most resonated with the individuals targeted, HIV negative men. The issue resonates with them, they wanted the whole truth," said Hall.

And the truth, as presented in the ads, is not pretty. Compared to the upbeat drug ads, the campaign is downright shocking. Some of the ads feature a man naked except for a diaper and a caption reading, "I'm afraid to leave my house because I might shit my pants. If I go out, I can't be far from a bathroom. It bothers me when guys who don't have HIV think it's not that bad. I'm glad I'm still alive, but there's no substitute for being HIV negative. If you don't have it, don't get it!" Another ad in the series depicts a topless man with a bloated belly caused by lipodystrophy, a side effect of some AIDS drugs that causes abnormal distribution of body fat. Another ad depicts facial wasting, another side effect of some AIDS drugs. In designing the campaign Hall said one of the considerations was how to show the negative realities of living with HIV without stigmatizing those who are living with the virus.

"It is difficult. How do you stigmatize the disease and not stigmatize the community? We're trying to show the consequences of HIV, and I don't think it's fair not to tell that story to the community, people who are negative, just because it might hurt people's feelings," said Hall. She said the campaign has drawn both praise and criticism from members of the HIV positive community.

The ads are currently appearing in LGBT publications in L.A., and Hall said it will eventually move to stationary billboards. Future ads in the series will deal with other issues facing people living with HIV, such as the permanent need for frequent doctor visits and the stigma around disclosing one's HIV status.

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