ABSTRACT
Mass media prevention campaigns are widely utilized in the field of HIV/AIDS to raise awareness of health risks and encourage the uptake of desired (healthy) behaviours (Noar, Palmgreen, Chabot, Dobransky and Zimmerman 2009). Such campaigns have beenan integral part of prevention efforts since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, mainly because they are considered cost-effective interventions to communicate health globally while encouraging behavioural change locally (Noar et al. 2009).The use of shock or scare tactics to design HIV/ AIDS prevention campaigns has been widely criticized over time by scholars and activists. Many of these refer back to the “Grim Reaper Campaign” launched by the Australian government in 1987 to illustrate how these tactics have detrimental effects on people living with HIV/AIDS (Lupton 1994). In recent years, there has been a call for more persuasive ways of raising awareness about HIV/AIDS (now considered a chronic illness) and producing high impact messages to remind mass audiences of sex-safe practices. As a result, fear (Gagnon, Jacob and Holmes 2009) and disgust (Pezeril 2011) have resurfaced in HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns but with greater focus on threats posed by HIV – and people living with HIV/AIDS.
