FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
William Gregory, Governor, 4th District AAF
863-651-5897; willgreg@aol.com
Cathy Robinson, Friends-Together, Inc.
941-707-8418; hiveducation@aol.com
4TH DISTRICT AAF UNVEILS
STATEWIDE HIV/AIDS AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
(Tallahassee, FL) – March 4, 2002 – A public service advertising campaign to promote awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS was unveiled today by the 4th District American Advertising Federation (AAF). The statewide ad industry organization created the campaign in cooperation with the Cathy Robinson’s Friends-Together, Inc. of Lakeland, FL, an AIDS awareness and support organization.
The campaign features the impactful, thought-provoking headline, “Only Men, Woman and Children Get AIDS,” which drives home the point that HIV/AIDS does not discriminate against anyone contracting the disease. The purpose of the campaign is to focus people’s attention on awareness and prevention of AIDS, versus treatment of it. Elements of the statewide campaign include outdoor billboards, television spots, posters, radio commercials and an educational brochure.
William Gregory, Governor of the 4th District American Advertising Federation, stated, “There are many misconceptions surrounding AIDS. The greatest being that the disease is limited to homosexuals, hemophiliacs, children of mothers with HIV, or drug needle users.” He continued, “Yet, the fastest growing groups who are contracting the disease include heterosexuals in their teens and early twenties.”
Cathy Robinson, a career AIDS Educator and Advocate, serves as the campaign spokesperson and heads the Friends-Together efforts. Robinson, a victim of sexual assault which left her infected with the AIDS virus, has been active for many years in the infected community. “A campaign such as this is critical at this time. There is a changing face to AIDS and many people don’t realize they could be at risk for the disease. Through these messages we can help people understand how they could contract HIV, give them the knowledge on how to prevent getting AIDS, and the power to make the right choices to protect themselves.”
According to a recent article in New York Times, many Americans who have the AIDS virus are unaware that they do. Those people could unknowingly and unwillingly spread the disease because they don’t think of themselves as being at risk.
The American Advertising Federation is a national organization that serves as the unifying voice of the advertising industry for the purposes of education, advocacy and governmental relations. The 4th District is comprised of 20 local clubs and over 2,200 individual members throughout Florida in the Caribbean representing all facets of advertising including ad agencies, clients/advertisers, media companies, printers, film & television production companies, public relations firms, interactive companies, educators and other support vendors. For more information, visit www.4aaf.com.
Cathy Robinson’s Friends-Together, Inc. is a non-profit, statewide AIDS agency, based in Lakeland, Florida, serving people affected and infected by AIDS. For more information, visit www.friendstogether.org.