Last week, the Brazilian Minister of Health had to drop a HIV awareness campaign where one of the slogans was "Eu Sou Feliz Sendo Prostituta" - "I'm Happy Being A Prostitute". Wow! OK, the aim of the project was to fight the stigma against sex workers and it was a nice try. Sadly, a rephrasing was really needed and now it's too late for it. But the campaign will go ahead with the rest of the slogans, like "Not ashamed of using a condom", and this is positive, since the overwhelming influence of the Roman Catholic Church in this country can make for some unwise decisions. And I personally appreciate the efforts of the Health Minister of Brazil in making big statements and talking about controversial issues. Last year the same authority had to drop a video for the carnival celebrations that featured a gay couple. Clumsiness is OK when it comes to being provocative.

Lastly, have a look at these posters about STDs prevention from the Second World War: you can take it as an extensive list of dont's for awareness campaigning. It's inspiring to see the difference and the improvements done in the field of safe sex campaigns from these early stages. Nice graphics, I must say, but you can easily understand why even the more appealing and elegant image can't do much with a slogan like "Men who know say 'No' to prostitutes - Spreaders of Syphilis and Gonorrhea".