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.

Read more

Your support is crucial…

With an uncertain future and a new administration casting doubt on press freedoms, the danger is clear: The truth is at risk.

Now is the time to give. Your tax-deductible support allows us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes what’s really happening — without compromise.

Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and unearth untold stories.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG