Confront HIV. Sadly, a lot of people have stopped thinking about it. But HIV hasn’t gone away.
So “Confront HIV” was the message that Saatchi & Saatchi Switzerland was asked to deliver by German/English language men’s monthly, Vangardist.
So S&S printed all 3,000 copies of the magazine’s Spring issue in ink infused with HIV+ blood donated by three individuals living with the HIV virus. The publication of the magazine will coincide with one of the biggest HIV events in the world, Life Ball, which takes place every year in Vangardist’s home town of Vienna.
The magazine was, in fact, produced according to the most stringent controls and using processes developed according to guidelines established by Harvard and Innsbruck University. The handling of a physical copy of the magazines carries no risk of infection, and is 100% safe. The campaign hits its mark nonetheless.
Despite 30 years of campaigning, activism and research, HIV remains the 6th biggest cause of death in the world. Sadly, for many people the virus is seen as old news, with discussion and debate relegated to just one or two days a year when key communities and organisations around the world force the issue back onto the news agenda.
And with NGO’s and governments all acknowledging that the social stigma surrounding the disease remains one of the key factors preventing the effective management, and ultimately the eradication, of the virus Vangardist believes that conversations around this topic have to be reignited.
This campaign hopes also to build a community of people around the world willing to publicly show their support and become #HIVHEROES online. Even just by talking about HIV, people can become HIV Heroes.
Those who want to do more will be able to participate in an online auction later in the campaign when further copies of the magazine will be sold in an effort to raise more funds for HIV-related causes and organisations.
Julian Wiehl, publisher and chief executive officer of VANGARDIST commented, “The editorial team at Vangardist is committed to dealing with a wide variety of topics affecting our readers. We believe that as a lifestyle magazine it is our responsibility to address the issues shaping society today. With 80% more confirmed cases of HIV being recorded in 2013 than 10 years previously, and an estimated 50% of HIV cases being detected late due to lack of testing caused by social stigma associated with the Virus. This felt like a very relevant issue for us to focus on not just editorially but also from a broader communications stand point.”
Jason Romeyko, executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi Switzerland explained, “This is truly a “Nothing Is Impossible” story – one we have been passionate about for a long time. When Vangardist approached us to help them raise awareness of this important cause around Life Ball in Vienna, we knew we had met a brave client. With this unique project, we want to create a response in a heartbeat by transforming the media into the very root of the stigma itself – by printing every word, line, picture and page of the magazine with blood from HIV positive people. By holding the issue, readers are immediately breaking the taboo.“
The magazine was available to subscribers from April 28, and on the newsstands and online the week following. The Facebook page aims to be one of the most widely visited and “liked” HIV related pages on Facebook, demonstrating to the world that a community of people for whom the HIV virus carries no social stigma exists.
