Viacom, Kaiser launch global "Know HIV/AIDS" campaign

Media giant Viacom and the Kaiser Family Foundation on Monday launched a sweeping global media campaign, titled "Know HIV/AIDS," that aims to raise awareness about the disease through Viacom's many television and radio stations and programs, print publications, online services, and outdoor advertising firms. Viacom has pledged $120 million in free advertisements for the campaign, which is targeted at groups hardest hit by AIDS, including young people under age 25, minorities, women, and gay and bisexual men. The campaign already includes 49 separate ads and public service announcements that began appearing Monday on Viacom's radio networks and outdoor venues as well as on Viacom-owned TV networks CBS, UPN, MTV, BET, VH1, Nickelodeon, Showtime, TNN, Comedy Central, and others. The campaign includes ads and PSAs in both English and Spanish.

Several television programs produced by Viacom also will include HIV/AIDS messages in upcoming broadcasts, including Becker, The District, Soul Food, Enterprise, Frasier, and One on One, the most-watched program in African-American households. That program will focus on a young black man being tested for HIV antibodies at the request of his girlfriend.

The campaign also includes a Web site that provides general background about HIV, information about HIV prevention and testing, and links to a number of community-based organizations. The Web site can be accessed online at knowhivaids .org. A toll-free hotline also has been set up at (866) 344-KNOW. For more information about the Viacom-Kaiser initiative, visit the Kaiser Family Foundation Web site at www.kff.org.