The Gates Foundation got some more insults today. It's a little depressing that something as fundamentally positive as the world's richest man giving away billions of dollars to benefit the world's poor gets so much negative press and so little positive. All the positive articles I turn up for Gates Foundation are obvious press releases, and therefore not all that interesting to read. It isn't that I think the world has it out for Gates, but I do think that it is somehow more fun to point out the negative.
The criticism this time has to do with a series of public service announcements that Gates supported to raise awareness of HIV in China. The entire campaign is under the slogan, “Life is Too Good”. One of the PSAs features Jackie Chan. It is a good ad, from an entertainment perspective. It features a well-choreographed fight seen and some nice camera work. Unfortunately, this analysis in the Guardian has got a really good point on the PSA's effectiveness – or lack thereof. The ad doesn't give the viewer any information on the threat or tell them what they can do to protect themselves. Instead it just gives a vague rallying cry.
To be fair to Gates, Chan, and UNAIDS (who were also involved in making and distributing the campaign), I can't imagine that it is easy to get Chinese government approval for an HIV awareness campaign. They have been very timid about their HIV problems for a long time. I have some experience working on this issue in other tightly-controlled media environments, and believe that there is a value in putting out a vague ad, if only for the implicit message that the central government now approves public discussion of HIV. By airing these ads, they may be making it clear to provincial health officials, doctors, and school principals that HIV is an issue they are allowed to deal with. It still isn't an optimal use of HIV prevention money, but I don't think it was a waste of money either.
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