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Ear to the Ground

Should Hitler Be the New Face of AIDS?

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Posted on Sep 7, 2009
Hitler AIDS ad
aids-is-a-mass-murderer.com

The “Adolf” poster is one of a series of startling images released by the AIDS Is a Mass Murderer campaign.

Invoking the notorious images of dictators like Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Saddam Hussein as part of an AIDS-awareness ad series constitutes a serious gamble at best—and a deeply misguided move at worst, according to critics of the new “AIDS Is a Mass-Murderer” European campaign conjured up by a Hamburg advertising firm.  —KA

The Guardian:

Das Comitee, a Hamburg advertising agency, said the advert’s shock value was aimed at highlighting the dangers of unprotected sex at a time when public awareness about the risks was diminishing. “We knew the face we gave to the illness could not be a pretty one,” said Dirk Silz, the creative director.

The advert was trying to “show the ugliness of the illness, not of aids victims”, he added.

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By Random Items, September 8 at 1:06 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Strange, Hitler was a deranged person which made his
evil the product of a warped mind.

A disease is a mindless entity with no agenda but
survival. I fail to see the value of anthropomorphizing
ad disease.

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By Night-Gaunt, September 8 at 11:31 am #

Uh, this isn’t World War II and it isn’t the Allies against the Axis, so what are these people thinking? I think a generic monster would fit much better than human dictators. Especially since it might not be a clear symbol to be using. Though they killed many millions germs are not humans and have no volition or intent. Only the follow the biological imperatives to reproduce. It is just that when they do it it kills their hosts.

It needs to be clear, not confusing. It is obvious that people will fixate on the controversy instead of the intent of stopping disease transfer. A red alert to change the faces on the artwork now.

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By noway, September 8 at 10:17 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Two hoaxes on one ad - good work. Why not put the WTC in the background and maybe OKC.

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By dihey, September 8 at 8:00 am #

This is another falsification of history and a vile insult to the millions of people murdered in the name of the Fuehrer.

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By Howie Bledsoe, September 8 at 5:02 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Yeah, right.
An impotent, asexual speedfreak will be the new face of HIV. Even considering the amount of blood he let flow, I doubt a drop touched him. No, this is absolute whack.
You need somebody like Magic Johnson or Freddie Mercury, somebody that people like, respect, and can identify with. i.e. “shit, that could happen to me, too….”

Report this

By NZDoug, September 8 at 3:46 am #

This HITLER Infatuation is SICK!
What does he drive????

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