Casey House begins Smash Stigma campaign
By Adnews Staff
Casey House, a Toronto-based treatment facility for people with HIV/AIDS, has begun a new campaign called “Smash Stigma.” The creative consists of fictional episodes of situation comedies Friends and The Office in which a character faces stigma for a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. The episodes were created by editing footage from the shows, adding new dialog by celebrity impersonators and digitally altering the actors’ mouth movements. The videos are being hosted online at <http://www.smashstigma.ca>. The campaign was developed by Toronto-based Bensimon Byrne, Narrative and OneMethod.
“The campaign really makes you take stock and consider what if the TV shows that defined the cultural zeitgeist of the time could have helped improve the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS today, decades later?” said Joanne Simons, CEO of Casey House. “There is a disturbing gap in the conversation that is being ignored between the incredible strides we have made in the medical treatment of the disease and the startling lack of progress in society’s treatment of those living with HIV. Casey House is working to bridge that gap, but we can’t do it alone.”