UPN's 'Girlfriends' To Air Fourth AIDS-Related Episode as Part of 'KNOW HIV/AIDS' Campaign
[April 14, 2003]
The UPN television network on May 12 will air the fourth and final HIV/AIDS-related episode of its show "Girlfriends" as part of a year-long awareness campaign sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Viacom, the world's largest media group, the Wall Street Journal reports (Reed, Wall Street Journal, 4/14). The "KNOW HIV/AIDS" campaign, which was launched in January, is aimed at raising HIV/AIDS awareness through public service announcements, television and radio programming and free print and online content. The campaign, which has a total ad placement value of $120 million, is targeted at both the general population and groups hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, such as people under age 25, minorities, women and men who have sex with men. The initiative has already created 49 television, radio and outdoor ads that are appearing on Viacom's television networks CBS and UPN and 200 affiliates; cable outlets MTV, BET, VH1, CMT, MTV2, TV Land, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Showtime, TNN and Comedy Central; more than 180 Infinity radio stations; and on billboards, buses and bus shelters (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 3/28). The upcoming "Girlfriends" episode will deal with the "implications of AIDS," including a story line about a college friend who has the disease, according to the Journal. Mara Brock Akil, the show's producer, said that the HIV/AIDS-related story line was the most difficult she has ever put together, adding, "How do you talk about AIDS and then be funny?" (Wall Street Journal, 4/14).
Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, search the archives, and sign up for E-mail delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/hiv. The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of the Kaiser Family Foundation, by The Advisory Board Company. © 2003 by The Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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