There’s been a lot of people using their voices this week. Whether it’s the world leaders gathered in London for the G20 Summit, coming together to try and solve the global economic crisis - or the protesters outside, raising their voices against capitalism and the war and a host of other causes.
But there’s been another group speaking up as well - all over the world, people have been standing up and pledging to practise safe sex as part of MTV’s Staying Alive campaign. The campaign’s been running since 1998, working with different partners and a host of celebs to raise awareness of the risks of HIV and AIDS and encouraging those of us who are getting it on to get a condom on first.
I first became aware of the Staying Alive campaign around the time of the MTV European Music Awards last year, when they partnered with Spinvox for their Telling It Like It Is campaign - a scheme encouraging people to talk openly about sex and safe sexual practises, by calling in and sharing their sexual stories and experiences. The stories were then converted into text by Spinvox and published online.
Now Staying Alive are it again. Keeping with the tradition of working with the most innovative new technologies around, this time they’ve gotten together with Spotify to get people to build “Play Safe” play lists which are then published on the Yes Yes Yes Blog- along with articles about other aspects of the campaign - the launches in different countries and examples of the work being done in places like South Africa to stem the proliferation of HIV and AIDS.
So far, they’ve had play lists come in from musical stars such as the Stereophonics, Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes and VV Brown. Other contributors include Perez Hilton, TechFluff TV host Hermione Way and our very own Cate Sevilla. The play lists include songs to dance to, to fall in love to, to make out to and to…y’know. It’s an eclectic mix of tracks, all chosen by people who recognise the importance of learning about, talking about and most of all, practising safe sex.
The blog’s accompanying website contains information about all the projects that have benefited from finance grants from the Staying Alive campaign - projects like CEG - The Carolina Empowerment Group. The group works in high school, focusing on encouraging peer-to-peer dialogue about safe sex and educating teenagers about the preventative measures that they can take to protect themselves against HIV, AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.
The website also encourages people to make three basic pledges - to talk openly about sex and safe sexual practises, to get clued up about safe sex and to practise safe sex if and when they have it. Sticking to these three simple pledges will significantly reduce your chances of being infected. It’s THAT simple.
I’m a particular fan of the Staying Alive campaign for a number of reasons. Firstly, they’re using a simple message to get something important done. Secondly, I really like how the websites linked to the campaign are informative without being preachy or so scary that you want to cross your legs and just get off on Jesus for the rest of your life. Finally - the way in which they’ve embraced technology to promote their work is really inspired. From Spinvox last year, to Spotify here - they’re utilising the internet and other tools to make their campaign stand out and to encourage more people to take part.
Watch this space for more news of what MTV and Staying Alive are up to in the coming weeks. In the mean time, head on over to the Yes To Safe Sex Blog and check out the playlists - I’m waiting for mine to be added right now. But most importantly - go to the site, take the pledges and say YES! to practising safe sex.
Go on - go!!