The world is on high alert when it comes to viruses. Sadly, this puts HIV back into focus. Are old fears resurfacing? Madrid agency, Señora Rushmore, set out to find out in a campaign for ViiV Healthcare, a global pharmaceutical company specialising in HIV treatments, to launch this new campaign, that wants to quash the HIV stigma once and for all.
The social experiment was carried out with help from GeSIDA, SEISIDA and CESIDA, associations that promote and disseminate awareness about HIV infection in different environments. It began with an idea by Señora Rushmore. The agency ran an ad during the peak of a housing crisis in Spain, for a shared flat with the most wonderful assets…
…and a flatmate with HIV.
The video shows enquirers’ responses.
Most promised (some eventually) that an HIV flatmate would not deter them. But did they mean it?
81% of the people who initially called about seeing the space never called back. Prejudices against HIV still exist.
As Jose Antonio Pérez Molina, medical specialist in infectious diseases, commented, “Talking on the phone with your prejudices is not the same as waking up with them in the morning.”
Luisa Montes, medical specialist in infectious diseases at La Paz Hospital, added, “We’re more polite, but we’re not any more understanding or empathetic about dealing with this illness.”
Through the campaign, GeSIDA, SEISIDA, CESIDA and ViiV Healthcare want to make clear the importance of educating and informing society in order to tear down the stigma surrounding HIV. The social experiment and campaign that followed aims to make people aware of, and be able to distinguish, between real risks and myths regarding HIV.
