STD ad scare tactics

There are many different ways in which the media informs us about sexually transmitted diseases. Whether it's an ad, a magazine article, or a video, the purpose of this media is to inform the public about STDs in order to encourage safer sex practices and preventions techniques for STDs. However, there are many different ways in which ads can accomplish (or attempt to accomplish) this. The above ad is a very common example that uses scare tactics to hopefully encourage people to be safer when it comes to STDs.

In huge bold letters it states, "10 Filipino women die from cervical cancer," follwed by ten stick figure women below. However, it is not simply just a scare tactic. It also has social connotations - implying that there is a bigger probem with STDs in less developed countries. The statistic is correct though - I found the same information on a few other websites. The group it's aiming at is women. The purpose is to inform women about the risks of HPV and cervical cancer, as well as the higher incedence in less developed countries such as the philipines. I think it is definitely a successful way to scare women about cervical cancer, but other than that, I don't think that this ad has very much merit...

This is the same with many other ads about STDs - they usually seem to employ scare tactics to try to scare people into safer sex. But I don't think this is effective at all. People need to be educated about the facts of STDs, not just scared about them. It is important to see the whole picture when it comes to public health issues such as sexually transmitted diseases. I don't think scare tactics such as this ad should be employed so frequently.