Viacom, Kaiser Family Foundation Launch Second Year of KNOW HIV/AIDS Campaign With Super Bowl Ad
The Kaiser Family Foundation and Viacom on Sunday during the pre-game show of Super Bowl XXXVIII aired an HIV/AIDS public service announcement to kick off the second year of the "KNOW HIV/AIDS" awareness campaign, which the groups first launched in January 2003 (Kaiser Family Foundation/KNOW HIV/AIDS release, 1/27). The campaign is aimed at raising HIV/AIDS awareness through PSAs, television and radio programming and free print and online content. The campaign -- which includes media placements valued at more than $200 million in 2004 -- is targeted at both the general population and groups hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, such as people under age 25, minorities, women and men who have sex with men. In 2003, the initiative created 49 television, radio and outdoor ads. The 2004 campaign will include 40 targeted ads -- including some of the 49 ads created for last year's campaign -- that will run across Viacom's broadcast networks CBS and UPN; cable networks MTV, BET, VH1, CMT: Country Music Television, TV Land, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Showtime, Spike TV and Comedy Central; 185 Infinity Broadcasting radio stations; and billboards, buses and bus shelter advertising. In addition, MTV, MTV International, Nickelodeon, BET, VH1, Showtime, Sundance Channel and Infinity Broadcasting are planning to air special HIV/AIDS-related programming throughout the year (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 1/12).
'Lives Thrown Away'
The ad opens with the image of a dumpster in an alley. A voiceover says, "Twenty million young lives thrown away. That's how many could contract HIV in the next few years. But it doesn't have to be like that." The dumpster opens and young people climb out as the voiceover adds, "HIV is preventable," directing viewers to the KNOW HIV/AIDS Web site, knowhivaids.org. The PSA ends with "thousands" of young people climbing out of the dumpster (Kaiser Family Foundation/KNOW HIV/AIDS release, 1/27). A Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 44% of adults in the United States either recognized the KNOW HIV/AIDS brand or had seen at least one of the campaign's ads (Viacom/Kaiser Family Foundation release, 1/12).
The PSA is available online.
The Sundance Channel, which is owned by Viacom, on Monday will air four HIV/AIDS-related documentaries, including "The Gift," "It's My Life," "Mother to Child," and "14 Million Dreams" (KNOW HIV/AIDS Web site, 2/2).