Controversial HIV/AIDS Campaign - Essay Example

Problematising Identity Your name:   Course name:         Professors’ name: Date: Controversy is often used to sell books, products, movies and even the brand image of people. In advertising, there are indeed many intentionally cooked up controversies, admittedly these controversial advert helps to attract the attentions of the viewers. One such controversial advert is the campaign, “AIDS is a mass murderer” aired in Germany television. In the campaign, its depict Adolph Hitler having sex (Hans, 2009). The video shows explicit images of a naked woman and man engaging in sex, then towards the end of the clip, reveals the man to be Adolf Hitler as it displays the tag line, "AIDS Is a Mass Murderer." The aids awareness campaign is in bad taste, for the reason that Adolf Hitler was a well known German dictator who killed a lot of Jews in both world war l & ll. Adolf Hitler was responsible for mass murders. He is the symbol of danger and evil. In the advert, the woman looks likes he is enjoying having sex with Hitler, while Hitler gaze looks cold and horrible (Hans, 2009). If the woman in the advert didn’t seemed to look happy, the whole scenario would look like Hitler was raping the woman, kidnapping her, killing her or torturing her. The advert has a strong message, but many AID’s activists are arguing over whether the advert is the right one. The organization which spearheaded the AID’s campaign in Germany televisions- which also included posters and newspaper adverts featuring the images of other dictators, like Saddam Hussein and Stalin- said the main aim of these advert was deliberately wants to provoke young people (Moore, 2009), into using condoms to help prevent the spread of HIV/AID’s (Moore, 2009). But the use of Adolf Hitler’s and other dictator’s image have been seen to anger HIV/AID’s organizations (Moore, 2009). According to mainstream HIV/AIDS organizations, this advert stigmatizes HIV/AID’s patients or sufferers. The video itself is “disgusting” because it ridicules all victims of Nazi regime, and it equates those people suffering from HIV/AID’s with mass murderers. In addition, this advert just relies on provoking anxiety among young people instead of facts; and that is seen as a wrong approach for trying to spread the message about HIV/AID’s (Moore, 2009). This is for the simple reason that successful HIV/ AID’s prevention method is based on the actual data or information about various risks that are associated with HIV/AID’s transmission and encourages young people to use contraceptive such as condom to help prevent the spread of HIV/AID’s disease (Moore, 2009). Young people need encouragement- the facts about HIV/AID spreading rates is alarming. 10 people in Germany have found to contract the HIV virus every day. Across the nation, approximately 60,000 people are living with the virus. To help explain the advert socking tactics, the campaign’s website states, over the past few years, people interest in HIV/AID’s has tremendously declined (Moore, 2009). While the number of victims suffering from HIV/AID’s has not declined, over 29 million people around the world have died from HIV/AID’s disease. And each day another 8,000 people are added to that number. “This makes the disease to be among the largest mass murderers of all times” (Moore, 2009). In other parts of the world particularly in Australia, there have been many comments made about the tastelessness of the advert campaign (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). This is for the simple reason that the advert stigmatizes people living with HIV/AID’s who already face much discrimination and stigma as a result of ignorance about the HIV virus. Many people are concern that the "AIDS Is a Mass Murderer" campaign will discourage other people particularly youths from knowing their HIV status because they may feel as though they themselves are “mass murderers” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). HIV/AIDS is a mass murderer. In essence, this statement about the disease is true because it does kill thousands and thousands of people annually (Moholi, 2010). Although this is true, there are better ways of telling people information they need to know. There are good ways- with precision, humor and loads of info people can actual use (Moholi, 2010). And there are bad ways to convey information- ham fisted, heavy handed, overwrought. This HIV/AIDs campaign has developed a disturbing way to get the “HIV/AIDs message” out there. The "AIDS Is a Mass Murderer" campaign message is so “bad” that the campaign has been banned on many national screens across Europe, while the promotional website has been shut down (Moholi, 2010). This campaign, “AIDS is a mass murderer”, compares devastating impact of HIV/AIDs disease to the murderous totalitarian era- 1930s to 1950s- of Stalin and Hitler. This is one of the darkest periods ever experienced in the world. So to invoke this period in an HIV/AIDs campaign is brilliantly bold, but problematic; it is a bizarre comparison (Moholi, 2010). Just as we still don’t know the origin of this disease, whether as a result of human or nature behavior, or the interaction of the two, people still debate factors that led to the “reign of terror” of State Socialism and Nazism: was this an “evil” in the world, or this was as a results of warring national economies (Moholi, 2010). This campaign implies that anyone with “Hitler and Stalin affinities- the insufficiently enlightened, bigots, racists - are the carriers of the HIV virus. Bad social outlooks, wrong ideas, “AIDS is a mass murderer” campaign suggests, spread the HIV virus. In addition, this campaign says to all those men and women who don’t know their HIV status: you enable murder (Moholi, 2010). Just like millions of German citizens who did not care when Jews were being tortured by the Nazi regime or in the racist American south or whites during Apartheid. On the screen, this campaign play like perfume adverts- two people make out, they remove their cloths, the lighting is seductive, and the heat of the moment is on. The guy’s face cannot be seen until Stalin, Saddam Hussein: making the love (Moholi, 2010). Beyond the dictators, this AIDs campaign implies that men are the sole carriers of the “death sentence”- men are the only ones who implement “mass murder” (Moholi, 2010). In other words, the images in this campaign give negative impression of men and sex. And that the woman is portrayed to be innocent, while men are portrayed to be the ones responsible in the transmission of HIV virus (Moholi, 2010). The images from the "AIDS Is a Mass Murderer" are shocking and grab the viewer attention without compromising any values of gender equality. I feel betrayed by this advert, I feel betrayed by the activists who developed this advert because they don’t seem to care about women; how can an individual be part of a community of activists that spread awareness of the disease, when you don’t feel like women bodies are not respected. In the video, there is no passionate sex, but rather it looks like the woman was being raped. The haziness and camera angles in the video show clearly that the woman having sex with Hitler is very drunk, and towards the end she seems to be unconscious. The whole video creates a horrifying scene with or without the presence of Stalin or Hitler or Saddam Hussein as the male partner. Without the tagline of “aids is a mass murderer” at the end of the video, the final line ““protect yourself!” means: women should protect themselves from being raped or sexually assaulted by not taking too much alcohol. If the ad intended to have a scene of sexual violence, first, the video is supposed to portray an ideal sex scene before the viewer realize the presence of Stalin or Hitler or Saddam Hussein is the male partner, they are portraying sexual violence against women as sexy, which in real sense is not. In addition, the scene in the video depicts sexual violence, than the message about HIV/AIDs. In other words, women have a responsibility to protect themselves from the disease by wearing a condom, just like they have a responsibility to protect themselves from any sexual violence by not taking too much alcohol. The campaign also equate a person suffering with HIV/AIDS with a rapist (and a murderer), which is absolutely wrong, and the opposite of what it meant by HIV/AIDS awareness campaign. In conclusion, this advert remains controversial as a result to the content presented within the video and picture. The "AIDS Is a Mass Murderer" campaign demonstrates a lot of negative viewpoints. From the campaign, it appears that intense approach will not draw needed attention but it will attract criticisms. Reference List Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2009, “Germany: Hitler AIDS Ad Stirs controversy”, The body, Hans, B 2009, ‘Controversial HIV/AIDS Campaign In Bed with Hitler’, Spiegel Online, Moholi, A 2010, ‘Aids is a Mass Murderer’, Mahala Magazine, Moore, T 2009, ‘Germany's New AIDS Ad — Starring Hitler’, Times Health Magazine, Read More