As STD Rates Soar, AHF Rolls Out Condom Billboard Ad Campaigns Across U.S.

As STD rates continue to skyrocket—particularly among youth—AHF goes
‘back to basics’ on prevention with the launch of billboard and transit
ad campaigns promoting condom use. Ads for LOVE and ICON brand condoms
are up now in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and
other markets.

Straightforward public health messages
encouraging condom use aim to combat record rates of chlamydia,
gonorrhea and syphilis reported for fourth consecutive year by CDC.

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) continue to skyrocket
in the U.S.—with 50 percent of new infections being acquired by young
people ages 15 to 24 years old—AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
is rolling out of two new, parallel condom billboard and transit
advertising campaigns promoting condom use as an effective means to
combat record rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis being reported
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In August, CNN
reported that rates of those three STDS “… have climbed for the
fourth consecutive year in the United States, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention announced Tuesday at the National
STD Prevention Conference in Washington.”

Over the past weeks and in the lead up to International Condom Day
(observed on February 13^th) billboards and transit ads for
AHF’s LOVE and ICON brand condoms have posted in Atlanta, Chicago,
Los Angeles, Miami, New York and several other markets.

The artwork for both versions of AHF’s condom ads features the text of
the name of the particular brand—LOVE
condom or ICON
condom (in this case, in the word ‘ICONIC’)—set simply on a
background resembling a swirled sheet. In each ad, the letter ‘O’ has
been replaced with an image of a wrapped condom of the respective brand,
with the imprint of the condom ring on the packaging suggesting the
letter ‘O.’

AHF’s LOVE and ICON brand condom ads are, or will be appearing in the
following markets and formats:

ALABAMA

• Mobile – Billboards (Bulletins)

CALIFORNIA

• Los Angeles – Billboards (Bulletins), Street Furniture (Bus
  Benches), Transit (2-Sheets and Interior Cards)
• Oakland – Billboard (Bulletin), Street Furniture (Bus Shelters)
• San Francisco – Street Furniture (Bus Shelters), Transit
  (2-Sheets)

DISTRICT of COLUMBIA

• Washington, DC – Street Furniture (Bus Shelters)

FLORIDA

• Broward (County) – Billboard (Bulletin)
• Ft. Lauderdale – Billboards (Bulletins)
• Homestead – Transit (Bus Wrap and Bus Interiors)
• Liberty City – Street Furniture (Bus Benches)
• Miami – Billboards (Bulletins), Street Furniture (Bus Benches,
  Bus Shelters) and Transit (Bus Interiors).
• South Beach (Miami) – Transit (Bus Wrap and Bus Interiors)
• Tampa, FL – Transit (Bus Shelters)

GEORGIA

• Atlanta, GA – Billboards (Bulletins and Posters) and Street
  Furniture (Kiosks)

ILLINOIS

• Chicago, IL – Billboards (Bulletins and Posters) and Transit
  (2-Sheets)

NEW YORK

• Brooklyn, NY – Transit (2-Sheets)
• Queens, NY – Street Furniture (Bus Shelters) and Transit (Bus
  Tails and 2-Sheets)

NEVADA

• Las Vegas, NV – Street Furniture (Bus Shelters), Transit (Bus
  King Kongs)

OHIO

• Cleveland, OH – Billboards (Bulletins and Posters) and Transit
  (Interior Cards)
• Columbus, OH – Billboards (Bulletins and Posters) and Street
  Furniture (Kiosks)

TEXAS

• Dallas, TX – Billboards (Bulletins), Street Furniture (Kiosks),
  Transit (Bus Interiors)
• Houston, TX– Billboards (Bulletins)

WASHINGTON (State)

• Seattle – Billboards (Posters and Trivision Posters)

“AHF has been promoting sexual health and STD screening through its
innovative public awareness and billboard campaigns for the past several
years in response to the skyrocketing rates of STDs nationwide,
particularly among young people and men-who-have-sex-with-men,” said Michael
Weinstein, President of AHF. “With rates of STDs continuing to soar,
and the increasing recognition of the shortcomings of biomedical
interventions like PrEP—which prevents HIV acquisition, but has not
really caught on with the public, as evidenced by Gilead’s latest report
of only 167,000 people on the prevention protocol—AHF is leading the
public back to basics by reminding people that condoms are an effective,
inexpensive—and often free—prevention tool.”

In June 2018, it launched a “Gonorrhea
Alert” billboard campaign, a nationwide effort to educate about a
drug-resistant strain of the STD. The “Gonorrhea Alert” billboard
campaign is a follow up and parallels AHF’s syphilis prevention and
treatment billboard campaigns that have included “Syphilis
is Serious” billboards which launched earlier this year and the
“Syphilis Explosion” outdoor advertising campaign which first starting
running in 2014. That campaign was followed by AHF’s “Syphilis Tsunami”
campaign which ran in Los Angeles in 2016.

To find locations for free STD/HIV screening, visit www.freestdcheck.org

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS
organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over
one million individuals in 43 countries worldwide in the US, Africa,
Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To
learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org,
find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth
and follow us: @aidshealthcare

Contacts

LOS ANGELES:
Ged Kenslea, Senior Director,
Communications, AHF +1.323.791.5526 cell gedk@aidshealth.org
Marin
Austin, Communications Director, AHF +1.323.333.7754 cell marin.austin@aidshealth.org

ATLANTA:
Imara Canady, National Director,
Communications & Community Engagement
+1.954.952.0258 cell imara.canady@aidshealth.org