AIDS Healthcare Foundation billboards featuring a condom-covered banana with the “Just Use It” slogan and the “useacondom.com” URL, part of the organizations continuing efforts to promote condom use and free HIV testing, will only appear in Los Angeles after several national out-of-home advertising companies refused the artwork, according to a statement issued today by AHF.
A second AHF ad promoting free HIV testing will appear in 32 cities in 15 states, including Dallas. This ad, called the “bullboard,” features a giant bull’s head with the words “No Judgmental Bull” and the URL “freeHIVtest.net.” The URL steers people to a searchable location-finder, according to the AHF statement, which noted that bational billboard companies also balked at the original version of this ad which read “No Judgmental Bullsh*t,” forcing AHF to omit the end of the word.
Michael Weinstein, AHF president and cofounder, criticized the advertising companies for refusing the two billboards, saying, “It’s judgmental bull that we can’t run an ad with a condom-clad banana. It’s just a piece of fruit.
“We may be moralistic in attitude, but the rising rates of STIs in Texas prove we are hedonistic in behavior,” Weinstein continued. “We need blunt advertising to get the point across. As for the word ‘bullsh*t,’ I think that ship has sailed given how often we hear the word on television these days.
According to AHF, case rates of gonorrhea and syphilis in Texas rose 30.6.2 percent and 137.6 percent respectively between 2017 and 2021.
The press release states” “AHF’s free HIV testing truly is judgment free and available at a variety of convenient locations. Anyone can visit a Wellness Center, AHF Pharmacy, Mobile Testing Unit or Out of the Closet Thrift Store to get a quick, accurate HIV test result in just minutes. AHF has nontraditional hours, a walk-in/no appointment needed model, and a commitment to creating spaces where people feel safe receiving potentially sensitive information and services.”
The press releases also notes that a meta-analysis of more than 60 studies on stigma and people living with HIV shows that HIV-related stigma has a detrimental impact on health-related outcomes. People who experience HIV-related stigma are 21 percent less likely to access or use health and social services, and there are significant associations between HIV-related stigma and anxiety, quality of life, physical health, emotional and mental distress and sexual risk practices.
— Tammye Nash
