Sexually transmitted infections are spreading like wildfire among young adults, but typically this audience think they are immune to the risk of infection and resulting long-term health problems, so they ignore health messages. The Department of Health challenged us to normalise condom use among straight men and women aged 18 to 24, so that carrying and using condoms feels as natural as carrying your wallet and using your mobile.

Our strategy was to avoid finger-wagging scare tactics and instead engage the audience with humour and interactivity.

We created a microsite that allows users to create a personalised spoof of a 70s porn movie that they could send to their friends. The plot of the film revolves around a beautiful woman who hires a famous private detective to investigate a problem with her husband. Employing all the double-entendres we could think of the film addresses the moment of condom negotiation in a sexually charged situation.

The site has attracted over 120,000 visits, of which 36% played the whole film. The site link was forwarded over 5,500 times. It also received 25 blog postings in the first couple of weeks after launch, including a number of posts from France and Russia as well as the UK.

Examples:

France - http://openspacedu4eme.com/2007/07/24/fais-ton-propre-film-porno
Russia - http://almelidis.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/safe-sex-becomes-viral/

http://www.privatedickmovie.co.uk