New AIDS ad features Hitler making sex, doggystyle

[RedRalph]

From Time magazine

Germany's latest AIDS-awareness commercial evokes some strong emotions: shock, disgust, nausea. And that's exactly the point. The controversial ad, which was released online on Sept. 3 and starts running on German TV on Wednesday, Sept. 9, shows a couple having steamy sex in a dimly lit room with menacing music playing in the background. The viewer sees only the back of the man's head until the very end, when the camera pans to his face — to reveal that he's Adolf Hitler. Then the slogan flashes across the screen: "AIDS is a mass murderer."

It's a strong message, but HIV/AIDS organizations in Germany are arguing over whether it's the right one. Rainbow, the AIDS-awareness group spearheading the campaign — which also includes newspaper ads and posters featuring the images of other dictators, like Stalin and Saddam Hussein — says it deliberately wants to provoke people, especially young Germans, into using condoms to help prevent the spread of HIV. "We want to give this terrible virus a face," Jan Schwertner, spokesman for Rainbow, tells TIME. "AIDS is a forgotten issue in Germany. It's been swept under the carpet. This shock campaign is necessary to get people thinking again."

But the use of Hitler's image — always a highly sensitive topic in Germany — has angered mainstream HIV/AIDS organizations, which say the ad stigmatizes HIV sufferers. On Tuesday, Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe, an umbrella group for HIV counseling centers and Germany's biggest AIDS organization, called the video "disgusting" and demanded an immediate end to the campaign. "The video ridicules all victims of the Nazi regime, and it equates HIV-positive people with mass murderers," says spokeswoman Carolin Vierneisel. "The advertising campaign just relies on provoking anxiety among people. That's the wrong approach. Successful HIV prevention is based on factual information about the risks of HIV transmission and encourages people to use condoms."

Germans need the encouragement — the facts about HIV rates in the country are alarming. According to Rainbow's research, eight people become infected with HIV in Germany every day. Across the country, 60,000 people are living with HIV. To help explain the advertisement's shock tactics, the campaign's website states, "Over the past number of years, public interest in AIDS has massively declined. The number of victims, however, has not. As of now, over 28 million people worldwide have died. And every day another 5,000 fatalities are added to that number. This makes AIDS one of the largest mass murderers of all time."

The ads will be shown in German cinemas and broadcast on TV starting on Wednesday, aiming for maximum impact. The agency that created the commercials, Hamburg-based Das Comitee, has robustly defended the campaign, pointing out that the video has already had thousands of viewings since last Thursday, when it was posted on video-sharing sites like YouTube. "We need to warn young people about the dangers of AIDS and the risks of unprotected sex," says creative director Hans Weishäupl. "AIDS is the mass murderer of the 21st century, and we have to show people how awful it is." He adds that he's received a lot of positive feedback on the commercials from young people and their parents.

Weishäupl agrees that his agency's methods are controversial but insists that the end justifies the means. "It's the message that counts, and of course it was provocative to use the picture of Hitler," he says. "But how would you visualize a terrible virus?"

Some moron ad guy trying to make a name for himself, methinks

 

[Rashiminos]

"How to finally equate something with the Final Solution of Nazi Germany and have it not be a complete Godwin."

 

[Truronian]

Not the smoothest photoshop I've seen...

 

[Yeekim]

HIV-positive people who refrain from using condoms can quite safely be equated with mass murderers, methinks. And since regular tactics have proven to be uneffective, we need to use shock campaigns.

 

[Godwynn]

I just saw the whole uncensored version, you would never see anything like that in a commercial here in the States.

 

[Riffraff]

The woman looks hot.

Seriously: This add has gotten quite many 'free' showings already in nearly every media outlet. You can probably count it as a success already, tasteful or not.

 

[RedRalph]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this: I would personally hate to be infected with HIV after having doggystyle sex with Adolf Hitler.

Call me a bigot if you want, but thats how I feel.

 

[Godwynn]

Wait, maybe I missed it, but didn't it say "AIDS is a mass murderer." in English?

 

[Enkidu Warrior]

My first reaction was similar to RRW's, but having read a bit more about them I'm actually persuaded that it's a good idea. It's a very powerful image, but the cause does seem to justify it. I want to see the others.

 

[Enkidu Warrior]

Wait, maybe I missed it, but didn't it say "AIDS is a mass murderer." in English?

The version I saw was in German.

 

[Angst]

This thread is actually quite hilarious.

 

[holy king]

i'd rather have sex with hitler than aids, i must confess.

 

[classical_hero]

My Führer.

Seriously, this is dumb, since the vast majority of AIDS cases are of either drug use, via shared needles, or via gay sex. I thought under German law, you cannot have anything relating to Hitler.

 

[holy king]

Seriously, this is dumb, since the vast majority of AIDS cases are of either drug use, via shared needles, or via gay sex. I thought under German law, you cannot have anything relating to Hitler.

i think you missed a few decades.

also, the risk of infection is higher for anal sex, which isnt restriced to male homosexuals.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

I just saw the whole uncensored version, you would never see anything like that in a commercial here in the States.

If that already stunns you, you really should watch some eopisode of one of our boulevard shows.

This add is without a doubt tasteless, but I have to agree that it is also the most effective campaign to draw attention to AIDS ever made. It perfectly fulfills its purpose.

And all those people whining like the "Deutsche AIDS-Hile" or the "Zentralrat der Juden" seem to totally forget this purpose and are just interested in proclaiming their views as ultimately true and how they could be hurt by this commercial. In my eyes only a sign if ignorance and a lack of healthy self-esteem.

It is ridiculous to think that those adds will terminate everything we know about Hitler, the Holocaust or how AIDS is actually spread. And people who don't care and don't wanne know about details will simply continue to not to care.
Besides that a little more trust in the reasoning of German citizens would not hurt either.

Normal AIDS commercials in Germany have been on for such a long time that nobody really recognizes them anymore. This was a logical step.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

I thought under German law, you cannot have anything relating to Hitler.

Nope.
You are only not allowed to use Nazi symbols and some Nazi sayings if not related to some kind of education (which is IMO idiotic by the way).

 

[RedRalph]

i'd rather have sex with hitler than aids, i must confess.

Honestly, I think I'd take the AIDS.

 

[Winner]

From Time magazine
Some moron ad guy trying to make a name for himself, methinks

If it helps to make people think twice before having an unprotected sex, I am all for it.

It's similar to the gory commercials designed to reduce the number of car accidents.

 

[RedRalph]

If it helps to make people think twice before having an unprotected sex, I am all for it.

If I picture Hitler giving me AIDS before sex, I amn't going to be having any sex at all, unprotected or otherwise...

I'd hate to have to explain that to Mrs. Wiggum

"Whats wrong Ralph, did I do soething wrong?"

"No, babe, I'm afraid I just pictured Hitler buggering me AIDS"

"Oh. Again?"

 

[Grisu]

judging by the media attention the spot is getting, it seems that it is a success