Obama, Hitler, and Lenin...

There must be something in the water up there in Iowa that the North Iowa Tea Party people are drinking in great amounts. Either that or they were sitting around having a few wines and thought this looks like a good idea, let's do it!

Do it they did. The North Iowa Tea Party created a billboard. Not just any old billboard, but the one here on the left.

Yes, folks, that is Barack Obama in the company of none other than Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. If it were me, I might of gone with Josef Stalin, only because he was probably even scarier than Hitler and Lenin combined. Some historians suggest that Stalin was responsible for the purging of some 10 million of his fellow Russians, his nearest and dearest colleagues. Enough on the tangent and back to the rant.

When are these people going to get it?

I am all for political debate, I am all for vocal opposition, I am all for freedom of speech. Despite the irresponsibility of comparing the current US president to Hitler and Lenin, I want to focus on how the exaggeration undermines the message. The undermining of the message is obvious. Other Tea Party members have been quick to distance themselves from the North Iowa crowd.

Obama is so clearly neither Hitler or Lenin. The last time I thought it through, I really could not see Obama taking the US down the path where he was looking at a final solution of eliminating all the Christian Right or some kind of concerted policy program of racial purification. Maybe I am missing something, but I think not! The comparison is not only offensive, it is stupid. It is stupid because it undermines legitimate grievances some US citizens have with the job that the president is doing, particularly his lack of success. Well, maybe they should have voted for the woman after all!

The point of the billboard is what? Socialism is bad? Well, if the message was that socialism is not in the best interests of all Americans then whacking Obama in the midst of these two is not going to make your point. The first reaction from most people is going to be offense at the exaggeration, and then the reaction is going to be that these Tea Party people must be a group of right-wing nutters who will next be arguing that the UN is running the show and there are black helicopters landing in the middle of the night on the White House lawn.

The message is lost in this billboard. The money would have been better spent on getting people out to vote in the November elections. Let people express their anger and disgust at the ballot box. Let them let Obama know what is important to them by voting out a whole swag of democrats at the next opportunity. The billboard is likely to create even greater apathy and inspire people to stay at home rather than head to the local polling booth.

As I said, I am all for freedom of speech. If these Tea Party people want to place a billboard like this, then so be it. I would probably argue that this is protected speech and they are free to make it. I would argue, and I am arguing, that the billboard is going to have the opposite effect to what was intended. So, in the public relations war, this was a big flop.

Once again, when are these people going to get it? Obama is not Hitler, he is not Lenin, he is not Stalin, he is not the Anti-Christ, he is just a man doing a job!

The Campaign Posters -- Offensive?

Saddam Hussein

Joseph Stalin

Adolf Hitler

These are the campaign posters (to-date) for the AIDS Is A Mass Murderer campaign being run in Germany. However, thanks to the Internet this campaign is probably going to take on a life of its own. Hopefully, bloggers and others can contribute to this campaign going a little bit viral (pun intended) to ensure that it reaches the maximum number of people.

The controversy aside, as to whether it increases the stigma on those living with HIV / AIDS, the fact that the campaign holds the potential to get people talking about the virus and our increasing complacency with respect to risk-taking behaviours, then the campaign is in my mind worthwhile.

I also remain to be convinced that the advertisements are suggesting that those people living with HIV / AIDS are mass murderers. To the contrary, I think the advertisements are saying that this killer lives among us, and 'this killer' is the virus.

That is just me though.

But on a slightly different note. Is there anything to be read into why Hitler and Hussein get brunettes and Stalin gets a blonde?

AIDS Is A Mass Murderer -- The Hitler Video...

This is one of those moments when you think to yourself, "why hasn't someone thought of this before?" The use of an Adolf Hitler lookalike having sex as a means of promoting the idea that AIDS is a mass murderer. Perhaps now a whole raft of regional based ads could be made, such as a Russian AIDS ad with a Stalin lookalike doing the deed (which has been done) or a Pol Pot lookalike in Cambodia, the possibilities are numerous.

AIDS, despite what some might have you believe, is an indiscriminate killer in the end; it does not matter whether you are male or female, gay or straight, young or old. The reality, and it is a sad reality, is that we have become much more complacent on the AIDS front. AIDS has morphed from being a much more immediate killer to a chronic illness that can be managed with the right medications. This has made us complacent and this is dangerous. Therefore, a truly confronting ad campaign might just be the way to go to reinvigorate the drive to create a viable vaccine and to find a cure.

The ad was produced by the German Das Comitee advertising agency. The primary focus according to the creative director, Dirk Silz, was to be confronting, to shake people up and get them thinking about reversing the trend in the increasing numbers of people engaging in unprotected sex. You can find the ad here at www.aids-is-a-mass-murderer.com.

AIDS has already caused the death of some 30 million people to date, and a further 6000 are dying everyday. The simple reality is that if we do not address the issue of HIV/AIDS then it will one day be the biggest killer of humans in all of our history. It will have killed more people than all of the wars we have endured as a race combined. This is a truly scary thought.

Maybe, just maybe, an ad like this one is just what the doctor ordered.

However, it is worth noting that not everyone is happy with the ad campaign. There are some who are arguing that the campaign will have the opposite effect and will actually serve to further stigmatize those with HIV / AIDS. The argument is it seems that the ad suggests that people with HIV / AIDS are mass murderers. To be honest I do not see the ad this way. In my mind the ad is indeed confronting, but it is saying the virus is a mass killer that lives among us and that we must be vigilant to ensure that we do not fall victim to it.

In any event, an ad such as this one is likely to generate strongly held opinions on both sides of the equation, yet in some way I believe if it generates debate and gets people talking about the pros and cons, not only of the ad but of the virus, then it has achieved the greater part of its objective.

Don't forget World AIDS Day on 1 December.

You can check it out here or just watch it below.