Following research that revealed that over 80 per cent of Singapore's 311 new cases of HIV infection in 2004 were men aged between 20 and 59, the new programme looks to raise awareness of condom usage among men who frequent prostitutes. Eight out of 10 males are believed to have acquired the infection via casual sex or sex with prostitutes locally or overseas.
Accordingly, a range of executions advertise 'Nikki's Hotline' using titillating images to implore men to call the advertised number. Once they call, they are reminded of the dangers of unsafe sex by women speaking English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien. "The hardest part of this campaign was how to reach that audience," said FCB Singapore executive creative director Robert Gaxiola. "You can't just run a press ad in The Straits Times. The entry point was sex and we went along the lines of Tiger or Guinness and put the girl up front."
The executions include posters in coffee shops and hawker centres, bus stop flyers, toilet stickers and print ads in newspaper classified sections. In addition, branded tissue paper packets and race day calendars have rolled out as part of the campaign.
"It's not like we're going to sell these guys the idea of abstinence," continued Gaxiola. "All we want to do is get the message out that even though the girl looks good, she might have Aids."
The campaign also includes a roadshow that visits blue-collar industrial and factory areas. A 'sex' truck visits the designated areas, before a stage show reminds viewers of the dangers of unsafe sex.