Prime time television lost its virginity in 2005. After years of abstaining from airing condom ads during peak ratings, the major networks aired a prime time Trojan commercial. The new \Make a Difference"" campaign intends to decrease the incidences of STDs and HIV/AIDS by encouraging sexually active men and women to use protection. Awareness of HIV/AIDS must be raised, but the message should not come packaged in a Trojan horse.
Trojan's latest campaign masquerades as a public awareness crusade to heighten consciousness for the prevention of HIV/AIDS transmission, but it's the message hiding within their prime time commercial that will keep Trojan in business: even if your sexual partner has HIV/AIDS, continue to pursue sexual endeavors.
The Trojan commercial successfully relates that, ""one out of four people with HIV don't tell their partners because they don't know"" and ""... other than abstinence, the only way to protect yourself is to use a condom every time."" Yet, the idea of abstinence and the possibility of HIV infection literally and figuratively fade off-screen when a seductive couple promenades onto the scene and the acoustic love ballad playing in the background rises to a crescendo.
Jim Daniels, vice president of marketing for Trojan, said, ""We feel there is an urgent need to articulate these important sexual health messages in a way that personalizes the risks, and hopefully, forms the basis for changing behavior so that consumers who are sexually active use condoms consistently."" However, the captivating image of a smitten couple overpowers the message in this thirty-second spot, spiking a more fervent desire to have sex (albeit protected) than to remain inhibited by STDs or HIV infection.
The new advertisement embodies a deceptive and ironic Trojan horse with two layers of meaning: worry about STDs and HIV infection, but continue having sexual rendezvous. The advertisement presents romance within the frame of HIV infection, but romance and infection by an incurable virus are hardly consistent messages.
If one in four people do not know they have HIV, which lusty lover depicted in the commercial could unknowingly infect his or her partner? Instead of promoting condoms as the first line of protection, Trojan should encourage HIV testing. The stigma attached to HIV testing discourages sexually active adults from personalizing the risk, and this contributes to unsafe behavior that Trojan could effectively reduce by incorporating the urgency of HIV testing into its campaign.
In fact, although most sexually active adults maintain that they understand the risks of unprotected sex, their actions contradict this knowledge. According to the 2005 Trojan Sexual Health Monitor, a nationwide survey of men and women 18 to 24 years old, 87 percent of women and 75 percent of heterosexual men have had sex without a condom. In light of these numbers, Trojan should not romanticize the severity of the HIV/AIDS.
Trojan condoms come in over 29 varieties, each style capable of preventing HIV transmission when used correctly. But prior to relying on a condom or trusting a possibly infected partner, sexually active students at UW-Madison should get tested for HIV and other STDs. University Health Services offers such tests and provides free condoms at the front desk. The deception of the Trojan horse lives on, and in this modern context, all sexually active partners should remain wary of untested partners and contradictory campaigns.
opinion@dailycardial.com.
