Safe Sex Ad Featuring Condom, Gay Men Back in Queensland
Queenslanders should expect another controversy to erupt soon as another safe sex campaign ads featuring a condom and gay men were posted on Sunday in bus shelters and billboards.
Healthy Communities, which is behind the campaign, said the new ad was posted Sunday in 35 bus shelters in inner Brisbane and at billboards at Surfers Paradise, Townsville, Cairns and Capalaba in Brisbane's east and Albion in Brisbane's north.
The Rip & Roll safe-sex ad campaign was the most complained advertisement in Australia in 2011. The ad generated 222 complaints after the Australian Christian Lobby group asked members to air their disagreement with it. However, advertising firm Adhsel brought them back after two days because 90,000 people backed the campaign in a Facebook page.
"Healthy Communities is proud to continue a 28-year tradition of promoting safe sex and condom use among gay men, our target population, based on peer education and sex positive approach," Gay Star News quoted Queensland Association for Healthy Communities Executive Director Paul Martin.
The 2011 ad featured two men in a romantic pose, while the new ad shows three fully clothed men in a non-sexual, friendly pose. Mr Martin said the group designed the ad to be subtle but said the group is ready to battle against the lobby if it wages another campaign against the ad.
He explained that if campaigns would use fear, guilt or blame to promote safe sex, it would turn off gay men, but campaigns that validate the lives of gay men and allow them to enjoy sex safely are the most effective campaigns.
"Safe sex is something that constantly needs to be reinforced and it's also important that we do show that we haven't been scared off," Mr Martin said.