FASHION : Models Put a ‘New Face’ on HIV : Marketing: A Costa Mesa agency uses people with the virus to shine a more upbeat light on those who are infected--and to sell products.

Model Rebekka Armstrong leans over to give a photographer a hug after a long afternoon photo session. But she falls forward and stumbles.

“Sorry,” she says softly, “It’s the dementia.”

The ensuing conversation is not about her eyes, her makeup or her best side. Instead, she chats about doctors, drugs and T-cell counts, and it’s clear that this former Playboy Playmate is a giant reality-check apart from most who strike a pose to make a buck.

Armstrong is one of 40 models with HIV or AIDS working in the Proof Positive Division of the Morgan Agency in Costa Mesa. They hope their fresh, healthy appearance will spread a message about the virus that has so far infected an estimated 750,000 to 1 million people.

“There are so many people out there living with the disease and they don’t fill a certain stereotype,” says Morgan Agency president Keith Lewis. “They are very conscious about their health, and we think it’s important to show them. We feel good about ushering in the new face of HIV.”

The agency began its search for HIV-infected models a year ago, and Proof Positive is now the fastest growing segment of the agency, Lewis says. Although a few clients were “a little nervous” at first, he says, the models have been widely accepted in the industry.

But one national ad using a Proof Positive model has met with controversy. Critics say it exploits and incites fear among HIV-infected patients.

The print ad, featuring Christopher Crays of Costa Mesa in a tank top and gym shorts, is for Advera, a nutritional supplement promoted by Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories as effective against progressive weight loss. Progressive weight loss, or wasting syndrome, leads to malnutrition, one of the leading causes of AIDS-related deaths.

“I never worried too much about nutrition,” the ad copy reads, “Then my doctor told me I was HIV-positive. Now I do everything I can to maintain my energy, strength and quality of life.”

The ad campaign has taken most of its hits from Dr. John Stansell, medical director of San Francisco General Hospital’s AIDS Clinic, who has called the disease-specific pitch “a disgusting distortion.”

“The advertising gives the impression that every HIV-positive person needs to be taking supplements,” he says. “Advera is a good product. But most (HIV) patients don’t need Advera if they eat balanced meals. When I heard the radio ads, I was really angry. It was the way they pitched it to the entire HIV community, as if all patients needed it. They used fear, really, I believe, to turn a profit.”

Executives from Ross Products and LCF & L, the New York agency that created the ad, did not respond to requests for comments about the controversy.

Crays, who is 35 and has been HIV-positive for more than six years, says he is proud of the campaign, the product, and his recognition as “the Advera man.” He and many other HIV-positive patients take a pro-active approach to their health, Cray says, not a reactive one.

“The likelihood is that this (virus) is probably going to kick me in the butt. I don’t want to live my life like that,” he says. “Nutrition is a very important part of my life. . . .

“We have to get rid of this perception that we are all wasting away or on our death beds.”

Proof Positive, which now generates 10% of the 466-client talent and modeling agency’s business, was started in response to an increasing demand for HIV-positive models to promote products such as Advera. But many of the models have also promoted products and companies with no connection to the virus.

Jim Ballard of Hollywood is one of the division’s most successful models and is currently promoting his own greeting card line.

“I’m not a model. I’m a face to connect with an epidemic,” says Ballard, 36, a former real estate finance attorney. “And this really isn’t about modeling. It’s a way to say that there are people out there with HIV. This could be anybody.”

Ballard practiced law for 10 years in a large Los Angeles firm before fatigue and other symptoms made it too difficult to handle 60- to 80-hour workweeks.

“I can’t really say that I like doing this more than practicing law, I love law. But I feel good about this and the message we’re sending,” he said. “It’s very important.”