Recently, there have been spikes in STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections) outbreaks throughout Arizona, and the Maricopa County Department of Public Health took it upon themselves to educate the community through a creative and informative campaign. In June we offered our followers a behind the scenes look into this ad campaign focused around HIV and Syphilis testing; The Risk is Not Knowing, Get Tested Today.

A recent study revealed that “around 1.1 million Americans have HIV and about 15 percent of people ages 13 and older have HIV and don’t know they have it.” And “in 2016, a total of 27,814 syphilis cases were reported. During 2015–2016, the national syphilis rate increased by 17.6% to 8.7 cases per 100,000 population, the highest rate reported since 1993. “So in other words, it has become a serious health issue that needed to be brought to the community’s attention.”

With the help from the Maricopa County Department of Public Health and SNEAKY Big Studios, we were able to produce a set of commercials centered around an individual’s sexual history. As well as the effects of STI’s on the human body and an overall message of the importance of getting tested; even if you don’t suspect you have an STI the message rings true, the risk is not knowing.

“The concept we created had a sort of romantic comedy feel to it with the goal to encourage people to get tested, which was our main priority,” says Eric Garcia, Chief Creative Officer of ON and the brains behind this campaign. “The idea we had for the HIV commercial was for our female actress to take on a more responsible role, questioning if her date has been tested. The actor portraying her date opens the door to his apartment revealing a group of women exposing his sexual history.”

“We were careful not to discriminate and portray the message that HIV can affect anybody in any situation where you are having unprotected sex. We wanted people to be accountable as well as encourage people in new relationships to get tested,” says Garcia.

Having the opportunity to flex our creative muscles while providing a strong and important message was a great experience. Check out the two spots today!

If you or your business is interested in spreading an important message through the art of design and video production, we would love to speak to you. Contact us today!