I have always been a fan of ad campaigns and have great respect for those who can create a catch phrase that becomes part of our pop culture. I enjoy finding a commonality among various campaigns, such as “Where’s the Beef?” and “Nothing Comes Between Me and My Calvins.”

Many of us with HIV have seen a plethora of advertising campaigns come and go. Many of us long-term survivors date ourselves by mentioning old campaign slogans, such as “Silence Equals Death.” I firmly believe that groups such as ACT UP and Queer Nation, along with potent drug cocktails, are the reasons I am alive today. It has always been important that AIDSvertising be in your face. I remember the irony of turning 40, and 40 being the number of friends whom I had lost to AIDS. I remember nurses who were scared to enter my friends’ hospital rooms for fear of catching the “gay cancer.” Looking back, it seems chaotic and sad.

Then began the commercialization of HIV, which included physicians running ads with their photos (why?) in gay rags. Every other page contained an ad for a viatical settlement (a.k.a. accelerated benefits), which allowed those with HIV to sell their life insurance for a lump-sum cash payment. Then came the acronyms – AFA, APLA, GMHC, DDI, D4T, PAWS, DIFFA – and who could forget our blessed AZT? Betcha can’t eat just one!

My, how time flies when you’re counting T cells. T cells are a subset of lymphocytes that play a large role in the immune response. As drugs have come and gone, and fund-raising has gone from celebrity benefits to giving someone a dollar for every cartwheel he or she can turn, people are still being infected.

We have gone through the shame of living with HIV, or so I thought. Recently, I have seen a spattering of ads that warn our young’uns of HIV. One ad depicts an emaciated man in a diaper and another the gaunt face of someone else. These can be found in many of the slick glossies, some of which portray themselves as the voice of the gay community when, in fact, they are more of a gay Tiger Beat. For those of you who are too young to remember, Tiger Beat was a magazine targeted to young teens. These magazines run ads with photos of buff dudes in Speedos to depict a story about same-sex marriage.

The reason I find this new campaign so alarming is that it comes across as, “You don’t want to get HIV or you will look like this,” or, “If you find out you are HIV positive, go buy a box of adult diapers immediately.” Yes, I understand it is about prevention. However, we are not playing AIDS “Fear Factor.” Just give us the facts. We can read and draw our own conclusions. Please leave the shock value to Bizarre magazine or National Lampoon.

Not only are these ads disrespectful to the HIV community, they are also a slap in the face to anyone who has been a caregiver to a person with AIDS (PWA). While we have changed the diapers of our friends and lovers with AIDS, we did so with dignity and love. We pleaded with our sick friends to drink another Ensure because they were so emaciated. However, we didn’t expect to see them portrayed that way in a slick, glossy ad.

The irony is that these new ad campaigns are very similar, if not identical, to the Halloween Hell Houses that are put on yearly by the extreme right-wing religious elements. For those of you who have never heard of Halloween Hell Houses, they are outreach events structured very much like a typical haunted house that people walk through. These houses sure guarantee to scare the “Hell” into you – and hopefully right back out of you – anyway! It really is a Reefer Madness response. This could easily be an advertising blitz put out by Pat Robertson in conjunction with Depends diapers.

No one wants to be diagnosed with HIV, not because you might end up thin and in a diaper, but because it is a virus that destroys your immune system and can shorten your life. No one wants cancer, not because they may end up bald, but because it is a painful, debilitating and deteriorating disease.

Now that I am nearing the tender age of 50, I am not as attractive as I was when I was 20. However, my will to live is stronger now than ever. While I respect the message of HIV prevention, I think it can be accomplished with a bit more tact and respect.

I do not, by any means, suggest that I am the voice of all people living with HIV. I am just one voice, just one opinion. So what gives me the right to speak out against this particular campaign? Well, as the fine folks at L’Oreal might say, “Because, I’m worth it.”