CARNAL NATION

AIDS awareness and prevention campaigns are supposed to be provocative. Last week, a German AIDS organization made Hitler and other despots the faces of AIDS with a poster and video campaign. However, such a campaign is only effective if people can see it. The Hitler video, in particular, has stirred up much controversy among both Jewish and AIDS advocacy groups, and YouTube has removed it for a "terms of use violation" (CarnalNation still has the NSFW video; click here to see it). The Swiss have characteristically taken a more diplomatic—though still provocative—approach with a series of posters urging you to get tested and a website that evaluates your risk for contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Like the Germans, the Swiss are also looking to the past for managing the epidemic—not the historical past but your sexual past. Weaving the past and present with the mundane and the erotic, the campaign urges everyone (straight, gay, male, female) to get tested and use protection. One poster features three naked hockey players with the simple message that "Here also protection is required." The others show more intimate moments surrounded by the daily chores we all have. These posters tell you that "if the past's interfering with your relationship," then get tested. Remarkably sensible advice without any controversy. View more posters after the jump.