Hep B Campaign

Ad location: Newspaper Display Rack, San Francisco

Medium: Newspaper Rack

Brand/Service: Hepatitis B Awareness

Overall Grade: A-

Quick Review: Coordinated by SFHepB Free, this public health campaign is all over San Francisco- most notably at BART stations and on Muni buses and at Muni buses, but it has even been seen, as evidenced to the left, on newspaper racks below eye level.

The campaign is coordinated by Mayor Gavin Newsom and State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma.  The campaign is notable for the starkness of its message.  There are various pictures of smiling groups of Asians- I have seen a group of young women at what looks to be a beauty pageant; a team of young basketball players; an extended family; and the picture at left, with a group of smiling doctors, asking in large lettering, Which One Deserves To Die?  Public health campaigns are helped when they use a sense of urgency, and in this case, the smiling faces contrast with the harsh reality of the message (that none of these people deserve to die, so they should get tested for Hepatitis B).

The campaign also deserves kudos for effectively targeting an ethnic group, Asian and Pacific Islanders, for a health problem prevalent in the community.  The ads neither pander nor tiptoe around the issue.  With few words, they make it clear that Asians are at risk for Hepatitis B, and that no one deserves to die of the disease.  The New York Times has even taken note of the effectiveness of the campaign.