S.F. Syphilis Campaign Tones Down Ads

Thu Jun 27, 7:06 AM ET By MARGIE MASON, Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The San Francisco health department toned down its campaign to combat rising syphilis infections after the company that owns the city's bus shelters refused to display a male genitalia cartoon.

Viacom Outdoor objected to the Healthy Penis 2002 ads on five bus shelters in the city's predominantly gay Castro District, saying they would offend children and families.

But Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, head of the health department's sexually transmitted disease unit, said the $50,000 campaign comes at a time when gay and bisexual men need innovative messages to encourage them to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases. The city's syphilis cases jumped to 183 in the first four months of this year, up from just 41 during the same period in 1998.

"Supposedly, they have a no-nudity clause and they interpreted this cartoon penis as violating that no-nudity clause, which is absolutely ridiculous," Klausner said Wednesday. "It underwent community reviews, and various staff in the health department felt this was sex-positive and fun, and it was created by the gay community in San Francisco."

Viacom Outdoors displayed the ads, which include a cartoon syphilis sore, without the genitalia. The original ads will still be used in gay newspapers, clubs and other venues.

"I don't want mothers calling me," said Patrick Roche, vice president regional manager of Viacom Outdoors in Berkeley. "We're sensitive to the public. This situation has been blown out of proportion."

The same ad campaign created by San Francisco-based Better World Advertising was slated to run simultaneously in Los Angeles. But the health department there also decided to remove the penis from its ads.

"It's patronizing to gay men," said Dr. Peter Kerndt, head of Los Angeles health department's STD program. "We didn't want to select the penis as a logo for the gay community — we have more respect for the gay community than that."

Instead, Los Angeles adopted the "Stop the Sores" campaign that uses the same red cartoon syphilis sores as San Francisco's ads. Kerndt said Los Angeles' syphilis rates have increased 30 percent each year since 2000, numbers that rival cases reported during the height of the AIDS ( news - web sites) epidemic. The disease can be treated with antibiotics. Left untreated, it can damage the body's organs.

The ad campaign's creator says the cartoons were meant to be a lighthearted way to increase awareness about a very serious problem in gay communities.

"We wanted to be honest about the issue and not scare people and not have people turned off to it," said Better World Advertising president Les Pappas, who frequently works with health issues in the gay community. "We thought the idea of using humor would be more engaging."

"Left untreated, it can damage the body's organs."

It's "perjorative."

It's "insensitive."

It's "offensive."

It's "patronizing."

It's "racist."

It's "divisive" [that, it is; it can literally severe part of your body].

It's "a plot by the C.I.A."

It's "a plot by the vast right-wing conspiracy."

It's "exclusivity."

It's the politics of personal destruction.

But isn't the "gay" community defining itself by what they do with their penises? Bit of a disconnect there.

The ad campaign's creator says the cartoons were meant to be a lighthearted way to increase awareness about a very serious problem in gay communities.

How about this: Show a 14 day old banana covered with suppurating spots and the caption "Don't eat fruit with spots."

This campaign makes about as much sense as someone claiming the need to come up with more innovative and entertaining ways to get the word out to people who drive drunk that they shouldn't drive drunk, as though that will solve the problem. They drive when drunk (and eat spotted fruit) because they don't care about the consequences. There is no commercial or print ad in the world that's going to raise a consciousness that doesn't want to be raised. That the consciousness later claims the lack of such ads to be the reason for its predicament is simple insanity.

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