Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards - 2024

Campaign: Just Use It
Agency/Firm: Billups
Client: AIDS Healthcare Foundation

Breaking through a sea of misinformation is no easy feat for any organization looking to make safe sex practices widely known. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation and agency Billups found a way to cut through the noise with a strategic out-of-home campaign that brought public health messaging about sexual wellness and condom use to diverse audiences in various cities.

The "Just Use It" campaign in February placed 37 out-of-home ads showing a condom-covered banana and a URL for the campaign’s website UseACondom.com — across the U.S., UK and The Netherlands for 24 hours, referencing condom usage whimsically and directly.

The campaign brought its message about sexually transmitted diseases and illness prevention to more than 1.2 million people in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Netherlands, Amsterdam, London and Liverpool. It further spread across social and earned media using the hashtag #JustUseIt, earning it several award nominations and wins.

The campaign launched as condom use among young people is reportedly down, partially due to more contraceptive options being available and increased politicization of reproductive care access, but also due to reduced fear of HIV.