On November 30 2007, the BBC World Service Trust launched a mass media HIV and AIDS campaign designed to get people in India talking about condoms. Fronted by an animated green parrot and carrying the tagline "Jo Bola Wohi Sikander" ("those who talk are winners"), the contest-based campaign encouraged men to talk to each other about HIV and AIDS prevention, emphasising that the real "winners" are those who communicate about such issues. The contest, transmitted via public service advertisements (PSAs) on television, radio and outdoor advertising space, was designed to reach men aged 15 to 59 years old in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu. The contest is the first of four phases designed to use mass media to normalise condoms in the four states.
This initiative drew on the social marketing approach to inform men about the risk that unprotected sex poses to them, and to motivate them to talk to their friends about HIV and AIDS prevention. The campaign centres around a brightly coloured animated parrot (an animal that organisers believe represents talking and intelligence). The parrot was designed to come across as smart, pesky, opinionated, and humourous. The creative idea behind the contest was that - instead of just telling people to talk about sexual health (didactic) - it stimulates people to talk (catalyst for interpersonal discussion).
Specifically, the project revolved around a social welfare awareness campaign that was designed to create awareness about benefits of condom use in disease prevention through a riddle. The key approach was the use of PSAs encouraging men to enter a contest - one which carried a prize designed to spark further communication: a camera mobile phone with free talk-time. Although open to women as well, the contest involved an advertising strategy designed to appeal to young men. The PSA involves 3 "thugs" accosting a "nerd" (a man wearing thick glasses) in the street. The nerd nervously unfurls a poster that announces the contest, and then sings the riddle: "It's the mark of a man...but it's not a moustache. It's the other name for safety...no, it's not a helmet. It's a small little thing... without a doubt. Those who don't talk about... nah, they aren't men! What is this small thing?' Parrot repeats: 'What is this small thing?' The nerd says to one of the thugs: 'Don't tell me. Make a phone call.'" The PSA was aired on television and the radio and in cinemas, as well as on location at beaches and shopping malls.
HIV/AIDS, Gender.
According to the BBC World Service Trust, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that approximately 2.5 million people in India are living with HIV, which only falls behind South Africa in terms of absolute numbers. The highest rates of infection are among men in the south of the country.
By the closing date, more than 394,000 people had participated in the contest.
The campaign was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
BBC Email Network, December 4 2007; and BBC World Service Trust website; and email from Yvonne MacPherson to The Communication Initiative on