Well, actually, there's nothing pedestrian about it; these kids really know what they're doing. On a bureau, on a chair, upside-down, inside-out — that's some pretty serious fucking going on.

Of course, the point of this poster, brought to you by YouthAIDS (thanks to Michal Pastier for the link), is simply to make young and sexually active folks aware that AIDS is still out there, and it's still a danger. An admirable goal, and one we wish them luck with. Still, we can't help but agree with John Brownlee that the inadvertent message of the ad really seems to be more along the lines of:

=

Which isn't quite the message that the kids should be getting.

Listen, we understand that adults want to shield their children from the nasty and/or exciting aspects of reality (we really do), but the direct equation of "sex equals death" isn't just inaccurate, it's ultimately harmful. Yes, there is — and presumably always will be — a danger of contracting AIDS or another sexually transmitted disease through unprotected sex, but it isn't the sex itself that's the problem...it's the sorely uneducated or even miseducated youth. Let's concentrate on giving kids the facts that will help them make wise decisions about sex, because there's just no way you're going to be able to lock down their hormones and prevent them from having it. Scare tactics are, um, "nice" and all (no, not really), but information is several orders of magnitude more honest and more effective than simple threats. Even if it's just point blank truth, like Brownlee says:

...I think a much more effective AIDS awareness campaign aimed at sexually-active teenagers would be just handing out a condom with the following message written on the wrapper: "Yes, you idiot. You can get HIV from unprotected sex, even just the once. MORON."

In fact, we think perhaps condoms should become the new "fortune cookie" for the average teen-about-town. Think about it — every time a kid unwraps a condom, a little slip of paper pops out, with messages like "Using this condom tonight will prevent you from catching syphilis from the town skank (in bed)" or "When she gave birth to you at sixteen, your mother wished she'd used one of these (in bed)." Just the facts, you know? And yes, the facts are a little scary, because the reality of unprotected sex (and AIDS) is scary; but showing a poster of an apparently monogamous couple having wild and creative sex which inevitably leads to AIDS just isn't right. It's not accurate, it's not helpful, and it's more than likely not at all effective.

Bottom line: sex doesn't lead to death; irresponsible sex can lead to death. Instead of trying to hold back the tsunami of teenage hormones with a yellow rain poncho, let's admit that the kids are going to go swimming, and we should be reliable and trustworthy lifeguards.

I dunno... my takeaway from that poster is "man that doesn't look like too bad of a way to go."

I thought it was saying that amputees can have hot sex, but drinking out of the toilet can kill you. Nuance frequently sails right past me, though.

I think teens seeing that are just going to think, "Wow! I never thought of doing it THAT way!! Let's try that!" They'll probably tear down the posters and take them home as a handy reference.

I don't think condoms with prejudices are a good idea!

"Condoms with prejudices"? Huh?