The AIDS epidemic was officially announced on June 5, 1981, by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The origins of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, are as yet unidentified. It must have originated during contact between people and the genetically closely related chimpanzees, which were infected with the HIV-related SIV virus. During the 1980s, AIDS was largely stigmatized as an illness impacting the gay community because it was first diagnosed among gay men.
For a long time, ignorance and prejudice concerning this disease prevailed. Several public health education campaigns were needed in this area, especially in terms of the use of protection during sexual intercourse. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was much public debate about AIDS. After some research, I decided to mention three cases that made a huge impact back then.
The first case is the controversial Benetton AIDS ad. It was used a rather strong and disturbing photograph taken by the journalism student Therese Frare, published for the first time in LIFE magazine in 1990. The photo was of David Kirby, an American AIDS and LGBTQ+ activist, who was laying in a hospital bed dying of AIDS, surrounded by his distraught family. The Benetton ad used that photo to create a powerful symbol of the AIDS epidemic that had already ravaged millions around the globe. For Kirby’s family, the use of that photo was a mean to raise public awareness of a disease that should be paid more attention to. That year the disease had become the number one cause of death for U.S. men aged 25 to 44.
Much like the Benetton ad, in Australia,1987, Siimon Reynolds produced the so-called “Grim Reaper advertisement ad” to raise awareness of this disease through public shock. The ad had a giant Grim Reaper in a bowling alley where he would knock over people who represented the HIV victims. This was supposed to be a 12-week run project but, due to the hysterical reactions of the public, it was taken out after 9 weeks. The producer faced both criticism and praise, no one could deny that the ad, in fact, worked but some people thought it was too extreme. He also faced some controversy because it was unintentionally produced the idea that the Grim Reaper was a gay man infecting other people with aids. Those assumptions eventually faded away and, even today, this advertisement is talked about as an example of what we could do to educate people about the coronavirus.
A different case was of Ryan Wayne White, an American teenager from Indiana, who was failing to be re-admitted to school following a diagnosis of AIDS. Ryan was hemophiliac, and he was infected with HIV from a contaminated blood treatment. When Ryan tried to return to school, many parents and teachers rallied against his attendance due to concerns about the disease spreading. AIDS was poorly understood by the general public at the time. Media attention turned Ryan into a popular celebrity and advocate for AIDS research and public education. He, unfortunately, ended up dying five years later (1990) but, at least he was of help to society and was also one of the reasons why this disease stopped being heavily associated with gay men.
Nowadays, this disease is much better understood and accepted by the general public. For that, we have to thank many cases like the ones that I mentioned above, they all greatly contributed to our education and lessened the preconception that this virus brought with it.
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