MD6002 Week 15 - AIDS awareness advertising campaigns

As part of my research for my Asperger syndrome awareness public information film, I looked at two AIDS awareness advertising campaigns (Don't Die of Ignorance and Don't Inject AIDS) to see how effective they were. I also read about them in 'Great Advertising Campaigns (Ind, 1993) and noted down the most important points from the chapter on AIDS awareness campaigns:

• The first subheading refers to the 'Don't Die of Ignorance' public information films since one features an iceberg and the other features a tombstone (p. 79).

• The first press advertisements to raise AIDS awareness "were not very effective" because "they were fairly inaccessible and also medical in tone." The advert in Figure 1 is a part of one of the first campaigns. Sammy Harari thought the advertisements would not work "effectively or quickly enough" "because they were invisible" and "didn't point out the essential. (pp. 80 - 82). Although Ind and Harari argue the advert is not particularly effective, I find it effective because it is informative and explains how AIDS can be spread in various ways.

Figure 1: the "Don't Aid AIDS" advertising campaign.

• Harari worked with Norman Fowler, Sir Donald Acheson and Romola Christopherson (Director of Information at the Department of Health) to produce a new advertising campaign in the form of leaflets (p. 82). Christopherson was dissatisfied with the outcome of the draft copies of the leaflets because it was liable to be "a product of concerned bureaucracy and the views of multiplicity of experts."

• TBWA reworked the draft by adding the slogan "Don't Die of ignorance (p. 82)." This implies that the majority of consumers were unaware of AIDS "and weren't too concerned" when they became aware of it. TWA also used the slogan for two public information films they made to accompany the leaflet. Each film had more significant use of dramatic imagery than people (p. 83) and was narrated by John Hurt. Fowler objected to the films due to the mention of condors being "too explicit for mass media" and the drill sequence in the original cut of the monolith film "being too phallic" for example so the drill sequence was altered to a chisel sequence. Although the mention of condoms was omitted from the re-cuts, it later returned to the iceberg film. The people who suffer from AIDS without realising it are referred to as "the tip of the iceberg" in the iceberg film which is an effective description because it further implies that many people are unaware of AIDS.

• Page 84 shows stills and the script from the monolith film while page 85 shows stills and the script from the iceberg film. The monolith film communicates "the sense of urgency" by persuading viewers to read the accompanying leaflet as soon as it arrives while the dramatic imagery in the iceberg film "was used to increase the impact" on its audiences.

• In spite of the films being re-cut, they were not only “powerful, dramatic and urgent” but also they raised concern in terms of “being too frightening and causing people alarm (p. 86).”

• The “Don’t Die of Ignorance” campaign was more visible than the previous “Don’t Aid AIDS” campaign (p. 87),

• In terms of qualitative research, the Central Office of Information (COI) commissioned “160 in-depth interviews and 150 group discussions” to give their views on the “Don’t Die of Ignorance” campaign. The British Market Research Bureau (BMRB) also carried out four sample groups of adults between February 1986 and February 1987. Groups of homosexuals and youths aged between 13 and 21 were also used. The overall proportion of people in all groups combined has increased from 44% to 90% in terms of having read the leaflet. In each group, 82% of adults and 82% of youths have seen the leaflet to accompany the films (p. 87).

• The public information films, leaflets and accompanying press have all successfully made the public more aware of AIDS (p. 87).

• Another notable AIDS awareness campaign was “Don’t Inject AIDS” that also started in 1987 (p. 89). Despite its low budget, it was highly successful.

• Pages 90 - 91 show poster advertisements for the "Don’t Inject AIDS” campaign, which explains that AIDS can not only be passed on from one infected person to another through sexual intercourse but also injected by using dirty and used needles. There was also a public information film to accompany the poster. The film features a heroin addict who has a blood test and when he gets his results, the doctor informs him he is HIV positive due to having received the HIV or AIDS virus through a use needle. These adverts seem to have made the use of drugs, particularly heroin, less popular (p. 93).

• As a result of the advertising campaigns, sales of condoms have risen by 50% since 1985 (p. 93). This shows how effective they are in terms of having an impact on contraception sales. Not only do the adverts have a positive impact on the sales of contraception but also the increased number of people practicing safe sex and reducing their partners since Hurt in the iceberg “Don’t Die of Ignorance” film states that the more sexual partners an infected person has, the greater the risk of passing on AIDS.

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