Clinic appeals to community to design new HIV awareness campaign
London sexual health clinic 56 Dean Street is asking members of the gay community to design an innovative HIV or sexual health awareness campaign.
The Community Campaign asks any member of the community to submit ideas for an advertising campaign that will make an impact to reduce rates of HIV or increase education about sexual health.
Entries will be put on display in gay bars around London. They will be put to a public vote via Facebook and the winning concepts will appear online, in print or on radio.
Supporting the campaign, Stephen Fry said: “With one in seven gay men on the London scene now living with HIV, it’s never been more important to develop new ways to reach and engage people with a safe sex message.”
The awards for The Community Campaign will be held twice yearly, with two categories every six months. The two categories for the first six months are a print advertisement campaign and a viral video campaign.
The print campaign, ‘Testing’ aims to encourage every sexually active gay man to get tested for HIV at least once a year. The winning sketch will be professionally designed into a fully fledged advertising campaign appearing in various media across London.
The video campaign, ‘What Would You Tell The 19-Year-Old You?’ asks what contributors would tell others in the community about love, life, work, sex, relationships, whatever, it said, would make people take note and remember. The winning video will run extensively through online media and be shown in London’s most popular gay bars.
Dr Alan McOwan, service director at 56 Dean Street said: “We want to create a voice for the gay community to actively design, vote on and react to their own advertising. If we can all get involved – together, we can make a difference.”
Submission for entries is open now, and will close on the 25 June. More information can be found on the campaign’s Facebook page.
A judging panel of industry experts will shortlist the entries, and a public vote will open in August to decide the overall winners. The winning campaigns will run from September to December.
Watch Stephen Fry’s video supporting the initiative below:
