Every year the number of people in Switzerland who become infected with HIV is higher than the European average. The Federal Office of Public Health therefore launched a campaign to bring safer sex back onto the agenda. The goal: to position protected sex as more appealing than unprotected sex. The message: protect yourself, then you will never have any sexual regrets. The “LOVE LIFE – no regrets” campaign focuses on the joys of a full, protected sex life instead of one of fear. The message: protect yourself, then you will never have any sexual regrets.

The campaign focused on “social participation”, which, according to the 2008 World Health Report is the most effective way of maintaining and improving health. Involving members of the public by showing them having sex acted as a publicity vehicle and shield for the campaign – these protagonists also reinforced the campaign’s primary message through interviews, portraits and bios.

The campaign focused on “social participation” – the key to maintaining and improving public health.2 “LOVE LIFE – no regrets” is portrayed in the shape of a condom. The condom conceals what needs to be protected in steamy situations. It is an invitation to never regret what you’ve done and never regret what you haven’t done (sexually), giving the condom the role of the enabler to live out your dreams and fantasies. Following a TV commercial, we looked for people to be campaign protagonists. They participated in a photo shoot, becoming the stars of a billboard campaign in July. This created a new wave of media interest, making it the most talked-about campaign in Switzerland in 2014. Involving members of the public by showing them having sex acted as a publicity vehicle and shield – and reinforced the message through interviews, portraits and bios and increased the campaign impact with real own-life stories.

In a matter of weeks, the campaign became the number one topic in the Swiss media and was discussed in other countries as well. The results up to now: the 720,000 Swiss francs (USD 760,000) spent on the campaign have returned publicity with a value of 5.2 million Swiss francs (USD 5,500,000). 80% of the target group became aware of the campaign and its message. Of that 80%, 81% felt positively about the campaign. The website lovelife.ch received over 300,000 hits. Despite being age-restricted, the commercial was viewed online over 1,000,000 times. More than 150,000 people actively said “yes” to the LOVE LIFE manifesto, thereby consciously saying “yes” to safer sex. HIV is finally back on the public agenda in Switzerland.