Project Action Continues Its 'Social Marketing' Program
                           by David Batterson

PORTLAND--An innovative HIV/AIDS prevention plan called Project Action is
placing some 300 condom vending machines throughout Portland, Oregon and
Multnomah County.  This is the first experiment of "social marketing" of
condoms to youth considered at high risk for contracting HIV/AIDS.
    To target young people between the ages of 12 and 21 years old, Project
Action is placing vending machines in Portland video and music stores, rock
clubs, shopping malls, fast-food restaurants, video arcades, sports shops,
fashion boutiques, and other businesses popular with young consumers.
    The first condom vending machine was placed in a teen clothing store
called BIG BANG in downtown Portland.  Other sites include P.A.S.S. Club,
U.R.S. Club and La Luna.
    Social marketing is a relatively recent approach in which commercial
marketing techniques are used to achieve a social objective.  In the case of
condoms, manufacturers have not marketed condoms to segments of the
population considered at highest risk of becoming infected with HIV.  The
reason given is that it's not profitable enough for the manufacturers.
    Project Director Julie Convisser said that Project Action's condoms are
low-priced--about one-third of normal retail price--in order to encourage
their continual purchase.  Convisser said that sales for the month of March
amounted to 1400 condoms, averaging 36 condoms per machine for the month.
    Vending machines are placed in the rear of stores, and machines carry
the Project Action logo (consisting of two hands, one of which holds a
rolled-up condom).  No ads or signs are permitted.  The Essentials brand
condoms--that comply with established international standards--cost 25
cents.
    Project Action is sponsored by Population Services International (PSI),
a non-profit health promotion organization based in Washington, DC.  The
City of Portland was chosen for the pilot project by PSI because of positive
response from politicians, community leaders, the health community, and a
diverse local media.
    In addition to condom vending machines, Project Action has developed a
TV-based motivational campaign to promote the consistent use of condoms by
sexually active youth.  A Portland advertising agency--Borders, Perrin and
Norrander (BP&N)--worked on a pro bono basis to produce the materials.
     All TV stations in Portland are airing the PSAs, which use an
entertaining approach to encourage teens between the ages of 12 and 21 to
purchase and use condoms.  The first three 30-second PSAs all use the same
theme and slogan: "DON'T EVEN THINK about sex without a CONDOM."
     Director of the spots was Jeffrey Plansker of Los Angeles, who has won
awards for his commercials and videos on MTV and elsewhere.  Plansker shot
the PSAs in L.A., and donated his time.  Postproduction work was done by BP&N
in Seattle.  The PSAs are also running on MTV and VH-1, but only in the
Portland area as other cities do not have the vending machines yet.
    The Portland advisory group for Project Action includes the Cascade AIDS
Project, Oregon Coalition for Hispanic Advancement/ HIV/AIDS Prevention, the
Urban League, the HIV Prevention Program of the Oregon State Health
Division, Multnomah County Health Department, Cleveland and Marshall High
Schools, and an Oregon openly-lesbian state legislator, Rep. Gail Shibley.
    Due to the average incubation period of 9-10 years, it is assumed that
many of the 20-to 29-year-olds in Oregon with AIDS became infected as
teenagers.  According to the Oregon State Health Division, 19 percent of all
AIDS cases in Oregon are between the ages of 20 and 29.
    The state determined that 65 percent of 18-year-old men (and 54 percent
of 18-year-old women) have had sexual intercourse.  The rate of gonorrhea
cases in Oregon has decreased but the rate among teens has increased, a
state study found.
    Bob McAlister, Ph.D., coordinator of the Oregon Health Division's HIV
Prevention Program called Project Action "a serious rescue effort."
McAlister said that "generally speaking, this group [teens and young adults]
has the greatest level of denial" that they will be infected with HIV, and
they are the least likely to use condoms now.  He described the program as
"an aggressive tactic that we think is needed.  We hope their efforts are
successful; we feel quite positive about it."
     The Oregon Health Division reports that 50 percent of Portland's teens
and young adults between the ages of 12 and 21 are sexually active, yet only
two to 10 percent of them admit to using condoms consistently or at all.
The fastest growing group of people being diagnosed with AIDS--both in
Portland and nationwide--are young adults in their 20s who were infected
with HIV during their teen years.
     "We must embrace new and creative ways to convey safe sex messages and
promote consistent condom use to teens before we experience an AIDS epidemic
among young adults," says Convisser.  "Project Action's goal is to close the
gap between teen knowledge of the dangers and their sexual behavior."
     Convisser used input gained through interviews with 99 individuals in
several teen focus groups on how best to get the message to them.  The focus
groups discussed their values and aspirations, consumer behavior and
attitudes, access to condoms, and media habits and preferences.
     Project Action's activities in Portland are a model for other cities
that seek to stem the growing tide of HIV among teens and young adults.
BP&N's creative work is serving as the first national test for media
outreach.
    The new PSAs have been endorsed by public health and AIDS experts
including McAlister.  Dr. McAlister is responsible for all phases of the
public health response to the HIV epidemic in Oregon.  He overseas the
surveillance, counseling, testing, prevention programs and clients services
offered by the health agency.
     Amber Hop, a 20-year-old member of the Cascade AIDS Project speakers'
bureau, spoke at a press conference when the PSAs were unveiled.  Hop's
sister, Shawn Hop, died at age 24 after becoming infected with HIV as a
teenager.
     Also appearing was Dr. Thomas Arrowsmith-Lowe, deputy director of the
Office of Health Affairs at the FDA, and an expert on barrier contraceptives
and HIV.  Arrowsmith-Lowe, a practicing physician at the Whitman-Walker HIV
Clinic in Washington, DC, has spearheaded FDA efforts to establish testing
programs for condoms and medical gloves, along with tighter regulatory
requirements.
     The director of the National AIDS Information and Education Program at
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has also
recommended the PSAs.  Fred Kroger said that "television is a key channel of
communication to teenagers, and one that helps shape their sexual mores and
behavior.  Project Action's approach will be a model for other
municipalities nationwide which are seeking to address the alarming spread
of HIV among teens."
    A third aspect of Project Action is a research evaluation on the
effectiveness of the program.  This will be done by the Oregon State Health
Division, with assistance from Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.
    Depending on the evaluation findings, Project Action could be expanded
to include other states and major cities.  McAlister said that federal
grants for the project were a possibility.
     Population Services International works to promote healthy behavior and
provide essential health products at affordable prices.  The $900,000
project is being partially funded by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
and the Public Welfare Foundation of Washington, DC.
     Project Action has also produced a two-hour, teen-presented cable TV
special called "Time for Action - Being Safe in the Age of AIDS." Copies
of the video will be made available for broadcast in other communities.
     To learn more about the project's PSAs, condom vending machines or the
video, contact Julie Convisser at Project Action, 534 S.W. Third Ave., Suite
512, Portland, OR 97204; 503-294-0554, FAX: 503-294-0565.