Wordy antibodies against Aids
Saatchi & Saatchi and Brot und Spiele are leveraging the visual power of words in their World AIDS Day campaigns
Saatchi & Saatchi and Brot und Spiele rely on the visual power of words in campaigns for World Aids DayThe reversal is ingenious and comes across as a spiritual antibody: "To stop Aids, please tell three people that Aids concerns us all", reads the text in a speech bubble. Translated into an image, the advertisement shows the miraculous multiplication of this message as the text bubbles multiply ad infinitum. In the run-up to World AIDS Day on December 1, 2002, the Nyon-based agency Saatchi & Saatchi Switzerland is launching a multimedia campaign "that aims to be no less infectious than AIDS itself," explains CD Ed Jones. The Aids Antistigma Campaign unites all the important Swiss efforts for World Aids Day 2002. The campaign, developed as a goodwill campaign, is supported by Swiss Aids Aid (Stop Aids), the Swiss Red Cross, Groupe Sida Genève and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCRC). This is the first time that these organizations have worked together on the same campaign.
Saatchi & Saatchi did not want to focus on the usual clichés about AIDS prevention and protection, but rather on the stigmatization associated with AIDS. According to researchers, this is the biggest obstacle in the fight against the global pandemic.
Cell division of a basic statement with rapid effect
"Aids is about blood, sex, drugs and death," Jones recognized. "That's why many people don't want to talk about it. But as long as people don't talk about Aids as openly as any other disease, we'll never really get to grips with the issue."
The aim of the campaign under the motto "The truth about Aids. Please spread the word..." is thus to counter the myths surrounding the subject of Aids, which among other things lead to the stigmatization of people suffering from Aids, with a series of truths. And to dispel such myths: "The campaign asks its readers to pass on these truths to three people, who in turn pass them on to three people each," says Ed Jones, summarizing the basic idea implemented as an image.
The broadest possible use of advertising media will ensure that the campaign reaches the majority of the Swiss population. These include advertisements in the print media, e-cards, posters in 30 percent of inner-city bus vehicles throughout Switzerland, tens of thousands of condom leaflets, placemats in restaurants and cards for free. TV presenter Dani Forler was also involved in the cinema and radio spots.
One of the most spectacular measures of the ideas developed in French-speaking Switzerland is the inclusion of three Geneva streetcars, which will be covered on the outside and inside with images and texts from the campaign.
The Swiss anti-stigma campaign is part of an anti-AIDS program that was originally developed for the Red Crescent and is now being implemented in various forms in over 90 countries worldwide.
Even after 15 years, there is still a need for information
At local level, a special campaign is also planned for World Aids Day 2002 in Zug. Here, Aids-Hilfe has put together a three-part action package with a large number of like-minded helpers from various sectors: an exhibition with pictures by young people on the subject of sex, a special coming-out event in the open air and a church service for living solidarity.
All of these ideas are based around the official motto of this year's World AIDS Day "Live and let live". The advertising measures for the campaigns in Zug were also designed by the Zurich agency Brot und Spiele. "Donating professional communication for a good cause can simply be good for the agency spirit and your own heart," says Markus Läubli from Brot und Spiele about his involvement.
Achieving maximum impact at minimum cost is also a task "that is well known from everyday advertising". The small campaign comprises posters and cards for free for the three Zug events and for once only uses text - which is particularly striking, as previous Aids campaigns have so far been dominated by images.
The fact that Aids-Hilfe Zug wanted to make a greater effort in the 15th year of its existence was not the result of an anniversary. The effort is based on the realization that even after 15 years, there can never be enough information about AIDS. According to statistics, today's young people already believe they have a dangerously false sense of security when it comes to AIDS.
The lustful vegetables will be followed by a new idea in 2003
The cR DDB agency in Basel, which is responsible for the official year-round campaign of Swiss Aids Aid, has decided not to run a special campaign around World Aids Day on December 1. Instead of solidarity ads, the focus will be on prevention. "We don't want to be misunderstood. But it seems to us that HIV-positive people are no longer marginalized by society these days," says Urs Mangold, consultant at cR DDB.
Together with Aids-Hilfe Schweiz, the Basel agency therefore wants to go one step further and focus its new ideas on prevention in future. The campaign with the vegetables, which focuses on the omnipresence of erotic thoughts, is currently being phased out. A new campaign is being developed at cR DDB. However, they don't want to say anything about it yet, "because the campaign will mainly live from the surprise".
Andreas Panzeri
Saatchi & Saatchi did not want to focus on the usual clichés about AIDS prevention and protection, but rather on the stigmatization associated with AIDS. According to researchers, this is the biggest obstacle in the fight against the global pandemic.
Cell division of a basic statement with rapid effect
"Aids is about blood, sex, drugs and death," Jones recognized. "That's why many people don't want to talk about it. But as long as people don't talk about Aids as openly as any other disease, we'll never really get to grips with the issue."
The aim of the campaign under the motto "The truth about Aids. Please spread the word..." is thus to counter the myths surrounding the subject of Aids, which among other things lead to the stigmatization of people suffering from Aids, with a series of truths. And to dispel such myths: "The campaign asks its readers to pass on these truths to three people, who in turn pass them on to three people each," says Ed Jones, summarizing the basic idea implemented as an image.
The broadest possible use of advertising media will ensure that the campaign reaches the majority of the Swiss population. These include advertisements in the print media, e-cards, posters in 30 percent of inner-city bus vehicles throughout Switzerland, tens of thousands of condom leaflets, placemats in restaurants and cards for free. TV presenter Dani Forler was also involved in the cinema and radio spots.
One of the most spectacular measures of the ideas developed in French-speaking Switzerland is the inclusion of three Geneva streetcars, which will be covered on the outside and inside with images and texts from the campaign.
The Swiss anti-stigma campaign is part of an anti-AIDS program that was originally developed for the Red Crescent and is now being implemented in various forms in over 90 countries worldwide.
Even after 15 years, there is still a need for information
At local level, a special campaign is also planned for World Aids Day 2002 in Zug. Here, Aids-Hilfe has put together a three-part action package with a large number of like-minded helpers from various sectors: an exhibition with pictures by young people on the subject of sex, a special coming-out event in the open air and a church service for living solidarity.
All of these ideas are based around the official motto of this year's World AIDS Day "Live and let live". The advertising measures for the campaigns in Zug were also designed by the Zurich agency Brot und Spiele. "Donating professional communication for a good cause can simply be good for the agency spirit and your own heart," says Markus Läubli from Brot und Spiele about his involvement.
Achieving maximum impact at minimum cost is also a task "that is well known from everyday advertising". The small campaign comprises posters and cards for free for the three Zug events and for once only uses text - which is particularly striking, as previous Aids campaigns have so far been dominated by images.
The fact that Aids-Hilfe Zug wanted to make a greater effort in the 15th year of its existence was not the result of an anniversary. The effort is based on the realization that even after 15 years, there can never be enough information about AIDS. According to statistics, today's young people already believe they have a dangerously false sense of security when it comes to AIDS.
The lustful vegetables will be followed by a new idea in 2003
The cR DDB agency in Basel, which is responsible for the official year-round campaign of Swiss Aids Aid, has decided not to run a special campaign around World Aids Day on December 1. Instead of solidarity ads, the focus will be on prevention. "We don't want to be misunderstood. But it seems to us that HIV-positive people are no longer marginalized by society these days," says Urs Mangold, consultant at cR DDB.
Together with Aids-Hilfe Schweiz, the Basel agency therefore wants to go one step further and focus its new ideas on prevention in future. The campaign with the vegetables, which focuses on the omnipresence of erotic thoughts, is currently being phased out. A new campaign is being developed at cR DDB. However, they don't want to say anything about it yet, "because the campaign will mainly live from the surprise".
Andreas Panzeri
