Animated condoms in the fight against HIV

[illusionofjoy]

While the Bush administration continues to push for the ineffective "abstinence-based" sex education program, there remain those in the world who accept that fact that teenagers and twenty-somethings are essentially hard-wired for sex, given the nearly insurmountable hormonal drive vested upon the average human being by the onset of puberty. To this end, an international group of volunteers has created a public service ad campaign targeted towards sexualy active individuals aged 15-22 years entitled The Three Amigos. Featuring three animated condoms acting in ways one usually doesn't see contraceptives acting, the goal of the ad campaign is to slow or stop the spread of HIV by promoting the use of condoms and removing the stigmas associated with them. Other goals include female empowerment, in that women should always insist that their partners use a condom, keeping some on hand "just in case."

The spots themselves are cute and readily elicit a chuckle. The message at the end is straight ahead and no-nonsense and avoids being preachy (the main downfall of many public service announcements). The effectiveness of the spots remains to be seen, however, I believe that "sweetening the dose" generally proves more proactive than primarily morality-based or fear-inducing messages. Let's hope that others follow the lead here of simply putting forth a well-reasoned argument.