NYC Health Dept’s new HIV/AIDS prevention ad for gay men like a horror movie trailer [video]
”When you get HIV, it’s never just HIV. You’re at a higher risk to get dozens of diseases even if you take medications. Like, osteoperosis, a disease that disolves your bones. And dementia, a condition that causes permanent memory loss. And you’re over 28x more likely to get anal cancer. It’s never just HIV. Stay HIV-free. Always use a condom.”
Voiceover featured in a new ad produced by the New York Health Department. The graphic medical images and gloomy visuals and music are being criticized by some in the LGBT community. It is felt that the ad will stygmatize or ostracize people who are already living HIV/AIDS. (NYCHealth on YouTube)
”While it’s extremely important that we continue to educate New Yorkers about HIV/AIDS prevention, the sensationalized nature of the commercial, including its tabloid-like fear tactics, misses the mark in fairly and accurately representing what it’s like to live with HIV/AIDS…. It’s our hope that the department will work with us to create a PSA that promotes safety and solutions, rather than stigma and stereotype.”
Jarrett Barrios, the head of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, responding to the NY Health Dept.’s controversial HIV/AIDS prevention ad. ABC reports that the ads are connected to a series of similarly dark ads associated with an anti-smoking campaign. The (ABC News)
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