GERMANY — This magazine have had enough of the social stigma surrounding HIV. Vangardist is a leading English language men’s magazine in Germany.
To commemorate Life Ball, one of the biggest HIV events in the world that happens annually in Vienna, the magazine’s hometown, they thought of doing a very bold move to get its readers to support this campaign.
With the help of Saatchi & Saatchi Switzerland, Vangardist printed all 3,000 copies of its Spring issue with ink infused with HIV+ blood donated by three individuals that are infected by the virus.
“This is truly a “Nothing Is Impossible” story – one we have been passionate about for a long time. When Vangardist approached us to help them raise awareness of this important cause around Life Ball in Vienna, we knew we had met a brave client,” explained Jason Romeyko, Executive Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi Switzerland.
“With this unique project, we want to create a response in a heartbeat by transforming the media into the very root of the stigma itself – by printing every word, line, picture and page of the magazine with blood from HIV positive people. By holding the issue, readers are immediately breaking the taboo.“
While the magazine has been produced according to the most stringent controls and using processes developed according to guidelines established by Harvard and Innsbruck University, ensuring that the handling of a physical copy of the magazines carries no risk of infection, and is 100% safe; the debate and discussion around the magazine and the issue it highlights has already been significant.
“The editorial team at Vangardist is committed to dealing with a wide variety of topics affecting our readers. We believe that as a lifestyle magazine it is our responsibility to address the issues shaping society today,” said Julian Wiehl, Publisher and CEO of Vangardist.
“With 80% more confirmed cases of HIV being recorded in 2013 than 10 years previously, and an estimated 50% of HIV cases being detected late due to lack of testing caused by social stigma associated with the Virus. This felt like a very relevant issue for us to focus on not just editorially but also from a broader communications stand point.”
Despite 30 years of campaigning, activism and research, HIV remains the 6th biggest cause of death in the world. Yet for many people the virus is seen as old news, with discussion and debate relegated to just one or two days a year when key communities and organisations around the world force the issue back onto the news agenda.
With NGO’s and Governments alike all acknowledging that the social stigma surrounding the disease remains one of the key factors preventing the effective management, and ultimately the eradication of the virus, Vangardist believes it is essential that conversations around this topic are reignited.
This campaign aims to show that a community of people around the world willing to publicly show their support and become #HIVHEROES online, even just by talking about HIV, people can become HIV Heroes.
