New ads shed positive light on sexual health

New marketing strategies that are being employed by the Canadian company Hello Cool World are taking a different approach to promoting sexual health awareness, according to the Vancouver Courier.

Social marketer Katherine Dodds told the news source that her company's new approach is an attempt to relieve the negative stigmas and awkwardness associated with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the topic of sexual health.

“It’s about wanting to actually have an impact on peoples’ sexual behaviour in a sense that positively impacts their lives and makes safer behaviours desirable, not all about disease and dreadfulness,” Dodds told the reporters.

The new ads may also appeal to young generations of sexually active individuals.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are about 19 million new reports of STDs each year, half of which it attributes to young people between the ages of 15 and 24.

Although the CDC reports that 46 percent of all high school students have had intercourse, only 13 percent are tested for HIV in a given year.

Anyone who would like to be screened for STDs may consider using online testing services.