Hip-Hop artist Common is joining with Viacom Inc. and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation to present a series of motivational public service advertisements (PSA’s) encouraging HIV testing as part of the KNOW HIV/AIDS campaign. The "Knowing is Beautiful" PSAs, which launched in June, seek to educate young people on the importance of HIV testing, especially groups most at risk. "It was really important for me to be involved with a campaign that is raising awareness of HIV/AIDS. I had an uncle succumb to HIV, so I’ve personally felt the impact of the disease,” Common said. “It’s important for everyone to be aware that this disease doesn’t just affect a single race or sexual orientation.” With the aid of Common, who narrates scenes of individuals in intimate or reflective moments, the campaign hopes to inspire high-risk groups to get tested. The characters wear a small adhesive bandage that indicates an HIV test, and Common’s original spoken word poetry serves to reveal the empowerment of being tested for the disease. Likewise, outdoor billboards stress the assurance of knowing one’s HIV status by displaying Common with a small adhesive bandage to show that he got tested. Radio listeners can hear Common’s powerful message through recorded PSAs that feature similar scenes. “The ‘Knowing is Beautiful’ campaign was especially important to me because I’m a true advocate of taking care of and loving ourselves, and that’s really what this campaign is about,” Common said. Renowned spoken word artists Black Ice and Bassey Ikipi also contribute their voices to the cause. In addition to billboard, bus and bus shelter advertising in large markets, the "Knowing is Beautiful" PSAs will run through the Viacom networks CBS, UPN, MTV, VH1, BET and Comedy Central among others. "This newest evolution of the campaign draws on an icon of hip-hop culture tom powerfully communicate the initiative’s lifesaving messages and ensure that they resonate with communities that are most adversely affected," Sumner Redstone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom, said in a statement. More information is available at the KNOW HIV/AIDS site www.knowhivaids.org. Common is currently working on his new album BE with producer Kanye West, scheduled for a spring release in 2005.
Hip-Hop artist Common
is joining with Viacom Inc. and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation to present
a series of motivational public service advertisements (PSA’s) encouraging
HIV testing as part of the KNOW HIV/AIDS campaign.
The "Knowing
is Beautiful" PSAs, which launched in June, seek to educate young people
on the importance of HIV testing, especially groups most at risk.
"It was really
important for me to be involved with a campaign that is raising awareness of
HIV/AIDS. I had an uncle succumb to HIV, so I’ve personally felt the impact
of the disease,” Common said. “It’s important for everyone to be
aware that this disease doesn’t just affect a single race or sexual orientation.”
With the aid of
Common, who narrates scenes of individuals in intimate or reflective moments,
the campaign hopes to inspire high-risk groups to get tested.
The characters
wear a small adhesive bandage that indicates an HIV test, and Common’s original
spoken word poetry serves to reveal the empowerment of being tested for the
disease.
Likewise, outdoor
billboards stress the assurance of knowing one’s HIV status by displaying Common
with a small adhesive bandage to show that he got tested.
Radio listeners
can hear Common’s powerful message through recorded PSAs that feature similar
scenes.
“The ‘Knowing
is Beautiful’ campaign was especially important to me because I’m a true advocate
of taking care of and loving ourselves, and that’s really what this campaign
is about,” Common said.
Renowned spoken
word artists Black Ice and Bassey Ikipi also contribute their voices to the
cause.
In addition to
billboard, bus and bus shelter advertising in large markets, the "Knowing
is Beautiful" PSAs will run through the Viacom networks CBS, UPN, MTV,
VH1, BET and Comedy Central among others.
"This newest
evolution of the campaign draws on an icon of hip-hop culture tom powerfully
communicate the initiative’s lifesaving messages and ensure that they resonate
with communities that are most adversely affected," Sumner Redstone, Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer of Viacom, said in a statement.
More information
is available at the KNOW HIV/AIDS site www.knowhivaids.org.
Common is currently
working on his new album BE with producer Kanye West, scheduled for
a spring release in 2005.
