AIDS Mask
Issue 16 | September 2010
Agency
Grey Mumbai
Creative Team
National Creative Director: Shalini Dam; Executive Creative Director: Rohit Malkani; Associate Creative Director: Bhavesh Kosambia; Group Head: Avinash Rebello; Copywriter: Arun Ganesh; Art Supervisor: Yogesh Khairnar
Date
2010
Background
When Swine Flu came to India, the dreaded disease claimed about 126 lives and there was mass panic it might claim more
The irony was that India was also in the grip of a disease which has claimed more than 25 million lives in the last 25 years.
For the Ojus Medical Institute, this was an opportunity to raise awareness about AIDS, while also providing protection from swine flu.
Idea
Masks to protect the wearer from Swine Flu were distributed for free across Mumbai.
Each mask came with the message, ‘126 people succumb to swine flu and you wear a mask. 25 million have died of AIDS. Do you use a condom?’
Results
The masks were well received and the message prompted conversations there and then as well as online, about AIDS, about condoms, about life.
Our Thoughts
As I think I’ve said before, I’m a sucker for a giveaway when it is useful. And this mask, while it carries a message about one disease is also offering some kind of protection against another. The comparison between the two diseases, one so huge a problem it has become invisible, with one so tiny it is viewed out of all proportion, is a telling one