Safe sex campaign not pornographic, says NZAF

May 11 2006

Safe sex campaign not pornographic, says NZAF

The New Zealand AIDS Foundation strongly rejects claims that its new safe sex advertisement, featured in the latest issue of gay magazine Jack, is pornographic.

The advertisement, which features an erect penis covered by a condom, is a vitally important health promotion message at a time when HIV infection rates among men who have sex with men are at an all time high in New Zealand, says NZAF Gay Men’s Health Team Co-ordinator Douglas Jenkin.

“We understand men and the way they think. Most are easily enticed by sexually appealing imagery,” Jenkin says. “This advertisement speaks to men directly about their sexual health and wellbeing. The image used literally models the behaviour required to prevent the transmission of HIV between two men – wearing a condom.”

The New Zealand AIDS Foundation, along with the publishers of Jack Magazine and Whitcoulls bookstores, has taken all reasonable steps to ensure that minors don’t access the material.

“The issue of Jack in which the AIDS Foundation advertisement features comes wrapped in plastic with an R18 warning sticker,” says Jenkin. “The idea that unsuspecting consumers could be confronted by it is highly unlikely. This advertisement can only be found by those who go looking for it, in this case within the sealed pages of a gay men’s magazine.”

The Jack advertisement is part of a larger NZAF campaign which has been targeted only at men who have sex with men, with advertisements only appearing in gay venues and in gay magazines like Jack.

ENDS

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