Man with multi-talented penis uses condom

TBWA Paris put together this amusing PSA for AIDES, the French AIDS awareness group, featuring probably the most gifted and accomplished penis depicted on film since John Holmes. The whole thing leads up to the tagline/punch line at the end. Possibly NFSW, I suppose. TBWA Paris has a history of doing fun AIDES spots. Previous efforts have included last year's freaky bathroom-graffiti spot and the truly epic "Baby Baby" cartoon from 2005. Via Osocio.

Filed under AIDES, AIDS, Europe, Nudd, PSAs, TBWA
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Unseen dangers a bit too vague in HIV spot

This Canadian HIV PSA by ad agency BleuBlancRouge is maybe a bit too slick for its own good. Playing like a horror-film trailer (better than most I've seen), it undercuts its good intentions with flashy visuals that are impressive but do little to deliver the broader message of being prepared and taking precautions. That's a shame, because the "unseen danger" scenarios are nicely realized, with scenes of flying bodies, a vicious beating and a drowning expertly shot and set to a pounding soundtrack with an evil vibe. Still, the fantastical metaphors lack context—this could be a PSA for almost anything. (Maybe it's an out-of-work invisible monkey wreaking havoc?!) Instead of an invisible force dramatically attacking its victims on darkened streets, it might've been more effective and unsettling to show the disease slowly and quietly weakening and destroying its hosts, bit by bit, from within. Via Osocio.

Filed under AIDS, BleuBlancRouge, Canada, Gianatasio, PSAs
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Ogilvy reverses assumptions in AIDS appeal

A couple of recent road-safety PSAs have shown time running backwards to make the point that drunken accidents can't be reversed. The ravaging effects of AIDS can be reversed, however, as shown in this powerful Ogilvy spot for South Africa's Topsy Foundation—which uses a time trick that's not revealed until the end, when we realize that woman isn't dying but is actually getting better. Potential contributors should be suitably stirred by seeing their patronage imbued with the power to cheat the reaper. Via Adland.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Africa, AIDS, Gianatasio, Ogilvy, PSAs
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Crabs Assassin, other mobsters battle STDs

Please just do yourself a favor and click through to the larger image of this billboard. I think da Crabs Assassin is my favorite HIV prevention mobster, but da Herpes Hit Woman is up there, too. Via The Awl.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under AIDS, Nudd, PSAs
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New Italian AIDS PSA gets tongues wagging

This Word of Mouth Against HIV spot from Agency.com in Italy has a fair share of detractors. Some find it disturbing or disgusting. Indeed, the close-up of a guy slowly sticking out his latex-sheathed tongue, then drawing it back inside his mouth, is unsettling, especially with that mid-tempo piano accompaniment. Onscreen text reads: "Protect the people you love. Use it. Say it. Spread the word." Before word can spread in a meaningful way (about anything, really), emotions must be stirred—and being provocative, even potentially offensive, can help. The ad sparks discussion, debate and criticism, which are all ways of turning up the volume. Perhaps there's a visual pun in there as well about not holding one's tongue. The alternative, to lift a phrase from a different AIDS campaign of yore, is unacceptable: Silence = death.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under AIDS, Europe, Gianatasio, PSAs
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TBWA Paris quick on the draw with AIDS ad

(Note: Spot is NSFW.) If you thought the live-action, cinematic Africa spot by TBWA\Paris for the AIDES education group was impressive, check out the agency's entirely different but equally effective approach in this animated installment. Most shops would misfire if they attempted to use whimsical bathroom humor in an AIDS-awareness PSA. But here, form snugly fits function in the most delightful way. In fact, this naughty and novel take is nearly hypnotic. The ending is uplifting and on-point about wearing protection—puns intended. Yes, this cartoon is NSFW. Man, those stalls are filthy! Via Osocio.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under AIDS, Europe, Gianatasio, PSAs, TBWA
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Canadian ad warns of syphilitic sea monster

The AIDS Committee of Toronto has an A-grade idea in their B-movie-style poster for Attack of the Cursed Syphilis. See the full ad here. It's well put together and gets the message across without the heavy-handed schmaltz of other (admittedly well-meaning) STD advisories. Yes, the tagline is a cheesy pun—"It's lurking in the depths!"—but don't tell me Roger Corman wouldn't have said the exact same thing. We hope the agency, Due North Communications in Toronto, makes more of these, perhaps a triple feature with The Creature from the Herpes Lagoon and Teenage Graverobbers from Planet Chlamydia. Via Ads of the World.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under AIDS, Canada, Kiefaber, PSAs
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Plenty to fear in TBWA's AIDS in Africa spot

TBWA\Paris makes a stirring, cinematic plea on behalf of French relief group Aides in its fight against AIDS in Africa. At first, it seems the visitor who frightens the residents of a village and sends them scurrying indoors might be death himself. Not exactly. "Today, the life expectancy of Africans is 47 years," the ad explains. "Soon, they won't know what an old man looks like." In the not-so-distant future, at the rate the disease is progressing, they might have to cast a middle-aged man or even a 30-year-old in the lead role. Let's hope not. Via Vanksen Culture-buzz.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Africa, AIDS, Europe, Gianatasio, PSAs, TBWA
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Aussies go bananas for condom campaign

Sometimes, a banana is just a banana. For the AIDS Council of New South Wales in Australia, however, it's the centerpiece of a safe-sex campaign encouraging gay men to "go bananas for condoms." International sportswear label teamm8 is the launch partner for the effort, which uses the tagline, "Slip it on." I think there's a double meaning there. Wait ... nah, I don't get it. Contrast this with recent similarly themed campaigns: the cell phones wrapped in condoms from the U.S. ("Practice safe text!") and that "quickies" blitz from Switzerland ("Too quick to think of condoms?"). Those had their charms, but the goofy Warhol-esque imagery and double-entendre-laden copy in the Aussie push seem especially good-humored and self-aware. Anyone who takes offense or disagrees with the bananas approach can split. Via The Inspiration Room.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Previously on AdFreak:
For safe text, wrap your phone in a condom
Swiss don't waste time in fight against AIDS

Filed under AIDS, Australia, Gianatasio, PSAs
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Swiss don't waste time in fight against AIDS

Libidinous strangers bump into each other randomly, then romantically, in these (mildly NSFW) five-second AIDS-awareness spots from Euro RSCG Zurich. The couples apparently don't have time to protect themselves (never mind their cell phones) with condoms before hopping in the sack. The spots then point viewers to Check-Your-Lovelife.ch, where they can assess the risk level of such precarious behavior. Oddly, I've found myself in these kinds of situations—at the beach, playing tennis, riding a bus. And casual sex is not generally the result. Maybe I should move to Switzerland. They seem awfully uninhibited, and if five seconds is the accepted coital interval over there, I'll fit right in! Via AdPunch.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

See also:
Canadian ads dramatize long reach of AIDS
Sleeping with Adolf Hitler never a good idea

Filed under AIDS, Euro RSCG, Europe, Gianatasio, PSAs
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Sleeping with Adolf Hitler never a good idea

I thought I'd make it safely through the week without another ad surfacing to rival DDB Brazil's 9/11 WWF work in terms of bad taste. I also figured I'd make it to the weekend (and perhaps snugly into my grave eventually) without seeing a Hitler-themed ad more overtly sexual than the "Hitler sperm" effort from Doc Morris Pharmacies. And yet here I sit, assaulted by this AIDS awareness campaign from Germany. There are these NSFW print ads (starring Hitler, Stalin and Saddam, who have very grabby hands), but the real centerpiece is the video posted below, starring an Adolf impersonator doing his best John "Wad" Holmes impression in a steamy, very-NSFW mini-epic that I watched several times at work anyway. "AIDS is a mass murderer" is the theme of the campaign. Das Comitee in Hamburg is credited as the agency by Ads of the World, and its name appears in tiny type at the bottom of the print ads. Overall, I'm disgusted, but mostly with myself. I thought I'd make it to the end of this post without asking whether this latest campaign will cause a führer.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Warning: sexually explicit content, NSFW

Filed under AIDS, Europe, Gianatasio, Hitler, PSAs
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Canadian ads dramatize long reach of AIDS

After seeing these ads, Canadians hopefully won't get their health PSAs confused and stop sleeping with people who have Parkinson's. This effort, with similar limb-filled visuals, is an AIDS-awareness campaign by Bleublancrouge in Montreal. "Each time you sleep with someone, you also sleep with his past," says the text. (The client is Bristol-Meyers Squibb Canada's "One Life" initiative.) Extra limbs: never a good thing, whether you're talking PSA campaigns or cartoon villains. Via Copyranter.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under AIDS, BleuBlancRouge, Canada, Nudd, PSAs
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