An advertising
campaign featuring cartoon characters shaped like male
genitalia encouraged more men to get tested for syphilis in
San Francisco, according to a new study. In the
neighborhoods where the "Health Penis" ads ran on
billboards and bus shelters, men who saw the comic
strips were most likely to have been tested for the
sexually transmitted disease, according to researchers from
the city's Department of Public Health.
The health department sponsored the humorously
risque ads between 2002 and 2005 to combat rising
syphilis rates among gay and bisexual men. Between 40%
and 60% of survey respondents who were aware of the ads said
they had been tested in the previous six months, department
researchers reported Tuesday in the online journal
Public Library of ScienceMedicine.
Although the campaign was not without
controversy--an outdoor advertising company
initially refused to post the spots--infection rates
have since declined, officials said. "We took a risk,
and that risk paid off," said Jacqueline McCright, a
sexually transmitted diseases services manager with
the health department.
The campaign's success has inspired Seattle,
Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Palm Springs, Calif.,
to use similar ads. (AP)