The HIV+ Issue has one simple goal: to combat the global stigma surrounding HIV+ by forcing people to confront pre-conceptions surrounding the virus and creating a campaign strong enough to drive mainstream editorial discussion outside of the traditional news cycle.
Despite growing infection rates around the world, for most people the issues facing those living with HIV pass unnoticed, new statistics go undiscussed, and discrimination goes unchallenged outside of key calendar moments linked to events such as World Aids Day.
However speak to anyone living with HIV and you will quickly realize that the stigma they live under is constant.
Creative Execution
To coincide with the LifeBall in Vienna, Vangardist wanted to create an emotional and moral response in a heartbeat- they transformed their publication into the cause of the stigma itself- they printed every word, line and picture with HIV positive blood. They then placed the magazine in a transparent wrapper encouraging people to break the seal and break the stigma.
Each stage of the production process, from the collection, and subsequent sterilization, of the HIV+ blood, through to the mixing of the ink and the printing of the magazines was carefully documented.
In week leading up to the magazine's on sale date, digital press kits were sent out to key editors around the world with links to moving and still imagery documenting the campaigns developing, pushing them through to sign up to receive a physical copy of the magazine.
People were also encouraged to share the edition online using #HIVHEROES
• One of the most trending topics on the net
• Received broad coverage on platforms like buzzfeed, mashable,iflscience.com
• Over 5,2m shares in the first ten days of the campaign
• More than 20mins of live coverage on news channels such as CBS-News, BBC, AlJazeera, etc
• Reaching out to an estimated audience of 54million
• Over 300 publications covered the topic in 28 countries across the globe.
• All coverage added up to an earned media value of USD 2,9m
• On the day of entry, the edition was on its way to selling out, raising potentially EUR 150K of donations.
We wanted to literally put the cause of the stigma in the hands of the readers. Early April 2015 we took blood of 3 HIV-positive donors and mixed it with ink to print the Hero-edition of Vangardist Magazine. This issue got released on April 21st to KOLs and journalists around the world in order to spread our cause to a broad and committed audience. On April 23rd the magazine launched in the German speaking countries and in globally selected galleries and museums. We also conveyed message onto existing online channels of Vangardist and launched a social media campaign around #HIVheroes.