AIDS campaign promotes condom use
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India's HIV and AIDS mass media campaign launches its second contest to get men talking about the use of condoms.
The first contest, which was launched on World Aids Day 2007, attracted a response of 400,000 people calling up and leaving an answer to the riddle advertised.
It reached 18 million men in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and was the first of its kind in the country. Campaign With approximately 2.5 million people living with HIV in India, the focus of the overall campaign is to get men to talk about condoms, as this has a positive effect on use, and position condoms as a product that men use to show they are responsible and care about themselves and their families. The number of high risk men reached by the campaign will be an estimated 6.5 million. Most will have been exposed to more than one promotional message about condoms. By the end of the campaign, the advertising on television, radio, cinema, print and outdoor media will have reached an estimated 48 million men. The strength of the creative idea behind the campaign is that instead of an ad that tells people to talk, it actually stimulates people to talk. The project is funded by a generous $6 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. New Contest Kabaddi, a popular team sport amongst men in South Asia is the means of expression in engaging men into the latest campaign. The sport consists of two teams of seven players occupying opposite halves of a field. The game is organised into two 20-minute halves. Chanting the name kabaddi, whilst provoking the opposition during play is a crucial aspect of game. The campaign’s TV advert shows a kabaddi match in which the protagonist wins the match against a macho team by chanting ‘condom’ instead of kabaddi. A green feathery parrot, which is the campaign’s mascot and featured heavily in the first contest, is back in a cameo role in the latest advert. The campaign will run across TV, radio, cinema, outdoor and print over a six-week period. It will also feature an interactive element with an SMS poll in print media around the core message of the campaign. Research Research shows that men who talk about sex are more likely to use condoms consistently. A baseline survey has already been carried out in the four target states to assess existing knowledge, attitudes and practices related to condoms. An endline survey will be carried out at the end of the campaign to measure progress on increasing positive attitudes and changing behaviour around condom use among men. Source: BBC |
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