So last night, during another wretched episode of Fashion Show (imagine a bloated half-sister of Project Runway), I came across a new anti-HIV Ad. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s message was simple: “when you get HIV, it’s never just HIV.”
Now, some gay groups want the ad pulled because they feel graphic warnings about unprotected sex “could further stigmatize.. gay and bisexual men.” And the chuckleheads at GLAAD, of course, says it “misses the mark in fairly and accurately representing what it’s like to live with HIV/AIDS.”
Which wasn’t the ad’s point, but check it out for yourselves.
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At first, this ad bugged me. I mean, shouldn’t the fear of AIDS be enough to keep you from practicing unsafe sex? Worse, are we now at a point where a disease that’s killed millions is treated like it’s no big deal?
But then I changed my mind. I realized that this commercial wasn’t just a scare tactic – but a tribute to drug companies and those who work for them.
Think about it: thanks to them, HIV is now a manageable illness, like diabetes and…well, diabetes.
And because it’s no longer a death sentence, people who ARE ALIVE, now need a reminder that there are other diseases that come with carelessness.
This is something to think about the next time you hear some d-bag railing against drug companies and their costly products. The fact is, drugs are expensive because so many of them fail, and even the highly successful ones may benefit only a few people. So without those evil drug companies – which are always demonized by trial lawyers and movies like Michael Clayton – there’d be no one alive hiring those trial lawyers or seeing movies like Michael Clayton.
Even an angry activist should appreciate that (but probably won’t).
And if you disagree with me, you’re a racist, homophobe.
Larry Gatlin
Bernadette Pauley
Remi Spencer
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