Region : Bold Ads on AIDS Awareness
A group of provocative new advertisements featuring a shirtless man wearing unbuttoned jeans have gone up this week on billboards in such places as West Hollywood, Hollywood and Los Feliz as part of a campaign to encourage people to get tested for the virus that causes AIDS.
“Do you know what you’ve been getting into? Are you positive?” the billboards ask.
The ads will eventually be carried on 62 billboards in the region, and will stay up for about three months, said Keith Malone, a spokesman for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. The foundation organized the ad campaign, assisted by funding from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. The Patrick Media Group donated rental fees for the billboards that carry the ads.
The ads give a telephone number, 1-800-243-2101, providing information on where to go for a free, anonymous blood test for the virus. People can expect to wait one to three days for a test appointment, and then about a week for results, Malone said.
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