Festival-themed billboard promotes free STD testing
INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A new billboard along I-10 near the Jefferson exit is catching drivers’ attention with the words “Bad Romance?”
The music festival-themed ad, created by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), promotes free STD testing with the URL freeSTDcheck.org.
“It’s Coachella. We know people are going to hook up,” Jason Farmer, AHF’s VP of Marketing said. "We want to make sure that we put these messages out to the youth. The people that are going to be at these type of festivals and let them know that if they do hook up and they're unprotected, to go and get tested."
This isn’t AHF’s first bold campaign—last year, Coachella officials demanded they remove a similar billboard, “Catch More than Vibes?”, but AHF refused.
“We hope there are no bad romances during this year’s festival weekends, and we hope everyone who chooses to partner up practices safer sex,” Michael Weinstein, AHF president and cofounder said. “But if anyone does need STD testing services, we want people to know ours are easily located, nonjudgmental and free.”
AHF provides free STD testing at 44 Wellness Centers nationwide, including five in California.
The billboard will remain up through April 27.
Stay with News Channel 3 for more at 10 and 11 p.m.
