I’ve found a few videos of PrEP advertisements, a few from early in the days of PrEP propaganda. I’ll present a few for your comments and critique. First, from 2022:
I love the part about “efficacy reaches almost 99%”—according to what studies? Also, what do they mean by “almost?” They also promote long term injectables. They end with “PrEP is your RIGHT.” (It’s in the constitution. Apparently. Of what country, I’m not sure.)
This next one is claimed to be the first PrEP commercial, and it is for Truvada. I apologize that I can’t embed; you’ll have to click through.
“My doctor warned me that Truvada alone might not protect me from HIV.” She’s saying the quiet part out loud there. It certainly may not prevent one from testing positive on a nonspecific test.
I almost don’t want to include this one because it is so frankly grotesquely stereotypical that it turns my stomach, but I decided to include it because that reaction might be the point; to cement in our minds certain damaging and false stereotypes. Gay people are a far more diverse community than is shown in these ads. Also, I love the 99% they keep citing like it comes from an actual study.
Luckily, there is some sanity in the world. There are whole Reddit threads of people who are very offended by these ads, as well they should be. I may post on this at some point; it’s pretty interesting to deconstruct.
Let me know what you think. What’s the most ridiculous and the most offensive thing you’ve seen in these or other ARV ads?
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It's interesting to read the comments of the second ad in particular. They're generally negative and in fact many people thought the ad was a parody, LOL. But it's true that the ads target the mindset or stereotype of gay men being hyper-sexualized. It's true there is a fraction of people who are that way, but the economics of Truvada/Descovy won't survive on the backs of this subset. So of course they have to go after other demographics.
I've been re-reading the Perth Groups analysis of Montagnier and Gallo's papers, and it really is shocking that the whole world bought into this despite the absolutely crappy 'evidence' they presented. Montagnier took the lymph node of ONE guy in France, detected reverse transcription activity in a culture and declared it was a new virus. Gallo pooled the serum of 10 guys (because he couldn't get a sufficient reaction from any one), injected it into a rabbit to produce an immune response, took the serum of the rabbit and reacted it to an 'infected' culture put into a density gradient, and whatever the rabbits antibodies reacted to he claimed they were 'viral proteins'. That's the foundation of 'HIV' research.
In my mind, all Blackrock Vanguard ESG-infected advertising now looks like the gay porn orgy ad. It is all truly grotesque.