MUMBAI: American designer and humanitarian Kenneth Cole in conjunction with Know HIV/Aids the joint public education initiative of Viacom and the Kaiser Family Foundation unveiled the We All Have Aids campaign.
This brings together entertainment, political, social and scientific leaders in an effort to foster solidarity and to bring light to the devastating stigma associated with those living today with the Aids virus. The goal
is to encourage people to learn more, protect themselves, get tested and find treatment.
The effort includes a photograph with a message about stigma that will be seen and heard by hundreds of millions via newspaper, magazines, radio and outdoor public service advertisements (PSAs), along with a new dedicated website, a t-shirt initiative and public art installation in the US.
As part of the campaign's collaboration with Know HIV/Aids, the outdoor PSAs are running across Viacom's outdoor properties, including billboard, bus and bus shelter advertising faces in the nation's largest markets.
Radio spots feature Richard Gere, Barry Manilow, Ben McKenzie, Liza Minnelli, Julianne Moore, Natasha Richardson and Mena Suvari, among others, who lend their voices and read the We All Have Aids tagline aloud. These spots will air on a number of Viacom's 179 Infinity Broadcasting radio stations, a majority of which are located in the top 50 markets in the US.
In the print and outdoor ads, the tagline is written across a photograph taken by photographer Mark Seliger. Among those pictured are President Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sir Elton John, Alicia Keys, Will Smith, Sharon Stone and Dame Elizabeth Taylor. They are shown stepping into cement, representing their commitment to the global fight against Aids.
Cole says, "Our goal is to create the largest public service campaign in the history of the devastating HIV epidemic. After two decades, stigma still challenges efforts to prevent, treat and to ultimately cure HIV/AIDS. This coalition represents many of the world's most accomplished, devoted and inspiring Aids activists. With help from these extraordinary role models we hope to foster solidarity so that the world can focus on improving HIV prevention and treatment programs, and support necessary AIDS research".
Viacom executive VP Carl D. Folta says, "For the past three years, Know HIV/Aids has brought together the power of our media brands and Kaiser's expertise to spark a dialogue about the devastating effects of Aids. Kenneth Cole, too, has been at the forefront of raising Aids awareness, and we believe the combined power of these shared visions will bring a new level of urgency to the epidemic proportions this disease has reached."
The We All Have AIDS print ads are already scheduled to run in about 200 publications internationally, including Vogue, French Vogue, Vanity Fair, Bell' Italia, Luna, InStyle, InStyle Spain, Time, People and Rolling Stone.
