n response to the findings, KFF, working with guidance from the Black AIDS Institute

n response to the findings, KFF, working with guidance from the Black AIDS Institute, created a broad campaign that targeted African-Americans with a goal of keeping the issue front and center in magazines and television, on radio and billboards, and at concerts and sporting events. The hope was that the issue of AIDS would permeate the public’s consciousness and lead to discussions and healthy decisions.

“We felt there was really an opportunity for a mobilization that brought together a broad cross section of partners—media and others—to mobilize around AIDS in this country,” Hoff says.

The name for the campaign came from a World AIDS Day speech in 2006 by then-senator Barack Obama in which he “spoke about the power of individuals coming together to achieve something greater, in that case reducing HIV,” Hoff says. “That really resonated with us.”

KFF manages the campaign, which receives additional funds from the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the MAC AIDS Fund, and the Ford Foundation. The CDC and local health departments contribute their resources for local Greater Than AIDS promotions at community centers and clinics.

Working with companies like Clear Channel and American Urban Radio Networks, Greater Than AIDS has placed print ads and public service announcements, many featuring the Deciding Moments individuals, in magazines such as Essence, Ebony, Vibe, and this magazine—dozens of radio stations around the country have also broadcast Greater Than AIDS PSAs. Each of the media companies has offered free ad space and time, which allows KFF to direct costs to the physical campaign production, like photo and video shoots.

KFF has extended the reach of the campaign by producing programming that’s entertaining and informative. For some radio spots, up-and-coming musical artists spoke about their “deciding moments” when it came to HIV and AIDS. Comedian Steve Harvey hosted a Greater Than AIDS–sponsored radio show that promoted testing and treatment. “Black media is now more engaged with HIV” due to the campaign, says the Black AIDS Institute’s Wilson.

Greater Than AIDS also set up booths at the football games of historically black college teams to direct people to HIV information and resources, and it provided testing at the 2009 and 2010 Essence Music Festivals. Also, state and local AIDS organizations in six states and Washington, D.C., approached the campaign to incorporate Greater Than AIDS billboards with local resources and information—that added up to almost 4,000 outdoor advertisements, with Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Ohio coming on board with promotions in the coming year.

The hard question, of course, is whether any of this makes a difference. Are more people getting tested? Are more people using condoms? Are more seeking treatment and sticking to their drug regimens? It’s difficult to gauge the benefit of a single campaign, and new infection numbers from the CDC don’t come out until this spring. But if Brown had been more aware of HIV at a teenager—if she saw images of people like herself dealing with the issue—she says she would have thought twice about having unprotected sex seven years ago.

“What I like most about [Greater Than AIDS] is how they work to make you relate and how it targets a group disproportionately affected,” she says. When African-Americans don’t see their faces or stories, she says, “You can lose them.”

If Greater Than AIDS is a broad campaign that stretches from newsstands to billboards to airwaves, from coast to coast, other efforts are trying a more focused approach. Urban black men who have sex with men and churchgoing African-Americans are being targeted by efforts from the New York–based GMHC.

Glossy images of black and Latino couples promising fidelity, respect, and honesty make up GMHC’s “I Love My Boo” campaign, which first appeared in the restrooms of New York’s gay bars and nightclubs last year before transitioning to 1,000 New York City subway cars and 150 subway stations. The posters carry the message, “We’re PROUD of who we are and how we LOVE.” Like Greater Than AIDS, the campaign promotes positive self-images and uses its message to encourage responsible behaviors—like monogamy, safe sex, and testing.

“Black and Latino gay men have absolutely no representation of themselves in the media and mainstream society,” says Francisco Roque, GMHC’s director of community health. “Typically, when gay folks are portrayed in the media, they’re white gay men. So, for these young men to be on the subway and see an image that looks like them really communicates to folks that you matter, that you’re worthy, that people are creating campaigns that speak to you. It changes the conversation and brings people in.”