Terence Higgins Trust launches World Aids Day push

by Alex Donohue, Brand Republic 26-Nov-07, 14:15

LONDON - Aids charity Terence Higgins Trust has signed up Martin Clunes and Stephen Fry to launch an anti-discrimination and awareness campaign to coincide with World Aids Day on December 1.

The charity, which is the UK's largest HIV and Aids charity, is to roll out a TW Cat devised marketing campaign called "Gloves off", featuring viral, mailing and direct response press ads.

The campaign, which aims to tackle discrimination, involves a viral email vid eo campaign, which goes live tomorrow, featuring Stephen Fry and Martin Clunes. It asks recipients to "spank the botty of injustice", by making a donor contribution to the organisation.

Banner ads on the New Statesman website ask viewers to decide whether people with HIV entering the US were "treated as criminals", while press ads in the Guardian draw attention to people's ignorance of how the virus is spread.

Terence Higgins Trust has also set up a Facebook group called 'Gloves Off', which has attracted 308 members so far, while an unofficial group set up by a university student has also appeared.

According to the charity, around 9,000 people become infected with HIV every year in the UK, but around two-thirds of 15- to 24-year-olds said they were not concerned about getting the virus.

The charity said it had been nearly 20 years since there had been a major Aids awareness campaign in the UK, despite the risks of developing the virus.

Alastair Irons, executive creative director at TW Cat, said: "One of the issues that THT faces is actually the perception that HIV and Aids is no longer an issue in the UK, that the epidemic is under control, and that people who are diagnosed no longer suffer because the medication is so effective.

"This is far from the case. There are more people living in the UK with HIV than ever. So, although fewer people are dying from HIV today this doesn't mean the problem has gone away."

Irons added that people's ignorance of the spread of HIV and Aids compounded myths about the condition that led to "quite appalling discrimination" against carriers.