Stigma and Social Marketing in New York

Social marketers often have to walk a thin line between making an unhealthy behavior seem unappealing and stigmatizing those who engage in that behavior. The Kaiser Family Foundation recently released a Public Opinion Spotlight on the topic of Attitudes About Stigma and Discrimination Related to HIV/AIDS that includes the fact that

In this way, a social marketing campaign promoting HIV testing could backfire by increasing the perception of stigma and thus reducing the number of people who get tested.

Liz Losh of Virtualpolitik let me know about an upcoming forum that's going to be happening in New York later this month that touches on this issue:

I suspect that this forum is a response to this HIV campaign that was pulled in Philadelphia after concerns arose among the target audience that the campaign stigmatized black men. A similar forum was held in West Hollywood, Calif. recently when a backlash by HIV-positive men arose against the HIV (not fabulous) campaign because they felt it stigmatized them.

If any of my New York area readers attend, I hope you will report back on it. I missed the West Hollywood event because it was on the eve of the first day of school for my kids. I look forward to seeing what Liz will have to say about her appearance at the forum.

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On a different note, I am busy preparing for the Social Marketing University training that is starting on Monday, so I will be incommunicado until the middle of next week. We have attendees coming from around the world, and from a wide range of organizations. It should be an exciting event! I'm hoping to offer another training within the coming year and will keep you posted.

Technorati Tags: hiv, aids, social marketing, stigma