PSA Monday: Superman, Wonder Woman and AIDS

February 27th, 2006

Filed under: Comics, Medicine

From a French AIDS campaign, here are the Man of Steel and the Amazing Amazon in bad shape. The implication apparently being that even the greatest of super-heroes can develop AIDS, so everyone should be careful.

Superman with AIDS
Wonder Woman with AIDS

These are from the same organization that put out the anti-AIDS ads featuring the scorpion and the spider last year. You know which ads I mean, right? If not, you owe it to yourself to click here (Probably NSFW).

I don’t speak French (other than a few choice profanities), so I’m not sure what the caption reads. Babel Fish translates it as “One is all concern with the AIDS.”

(I wonder what Time Warner and DC thought of their icons being used in such an ad campaign, even though it was for a worthwhile cause.)

Tags:

11 Responses to “ PSA Monday: Superman, Wonder Woman and AIDS ”

  1. JD
    February 27th, 2006 at 1:10 pm

    It means something like “AIDS is a concern for all of us”. It’s a bit tricky to translate, as “concern” is one of those words that have a slightly different meaning in French and English.

  2. Thatguy
    February 27th, 2006 at 1:48 pm

    Man, first the Smurfs get bombed and now Superman and Wonder Woman get AIDS. What’s next?

    Thundercats killed by poachers?

    Superfriends killed in a hate crime?

    Under Dog put to sleep?

    Where does the insanity end?

  3. mrmanatee
    February 28th, 2006 at 9:29 am

    They… they should probably get them into gowns. Also, I enjoy the fact that despite any wasting away, Wonder Woman’s breasts remain full and vibrant.

  4. Mr.Chris
    February 28th, 2006 at 10:22 am

    Very creepy.

    I’m wondering if one of them gave AIDS to the other…

  5. Toby S.
    February 28th, 2006 at 1:32 pm

    Yeah, this sentence doesn’t translate directly. It could be “AIDS concerns all of us”, “AIDS is something that affects/concerns us all”, or something else along those lines. There’s an element of involvement that isn’t really present in English anymore.

  6. Chris Arndt
    February 28th, 2006 at 6:34 pm

    Superman got AIDs because of a dirty Kryptonite needle…

    because Superman doesn’t have sex with anyone but Lois now. or that fish gal earlier.

    Wonder Woman is an Amazon and Amazons devote lots of time to…..

  7. Lunar Archivist
    March 3rd, 2006 at 12:38 am

    J.D. and Toby S. are right. The phrase translates as “AIDS is everyone’s concern” or “AIDS is everyone’s problem” or something along those lines. The tricky part, as it’s been pointed out earlier, is that there’s a slight shift in meaning between the French verb “concerner” and the similar-looking English verb “concern”.

  8. Rim Job 85
    November 21st, 2006 at 10:20 am

    The ad is very interesting. I wonder how the french feel about the fact that the men who play Superman are cursed.
    Reeves died from complications due to his paralysis, the original superman comitted suicide (?), and Dean Clan is just a bad actor. But the ad is good in getting its point across about AIDS. P.S. mrmanatee is right, despite AIDS eating away at their body, wonder woman’s boobs are amazing.

  9. David
    December 23rd, 2006 at 12:30 am

    Me encanta este tipo de publicidad en contra del VIH, pienso q es muy impactante y llega a todo el mundo, principalmente a nosotros los jovenes, me encanta esto, ojala sigan haciendo mas de este tipo…Felicidades!!!

  10. Jerry’s Blog–Because Wit Happens » The French Anti-AIDS Campaign
    May 3rd, 2007 at 4:48 pm

    [...]    No more disturbing than this picture of Superman with HIV.  If you don’t want to see it, don’t go there. [...]

  11. Harvey
    March 11th, 2008 at 4:14 pm

    The Spider/Scorpion link is dead. Here is a new link (also NSFW) http://scienceblogs.com/omnibrain/upload/2007/04/french-aids-posters.jpg

Leave a Reply

« Costume Connection Hawk & Dove #17 — Eve of Destruction »