On 1 December 2013 (World AIDS Day), when consumers tried to join a Wi-Fi network using their cellphone in selected venues across four major cities, in addition to the list of regular connection points, there were also Wi-Fi hotspots that were named after people. These particular connections were unprotected.

People, being people, would take a chance and connect to this unprotected Wi-Fi spot in the hope of getting free Internet. After connecting to this unprotected “person”, they were redirected to a landing page with a sobering message about not taking chances with unprotected hook-ups.

Users who connected to the unprotected “people” were exposed to a message that made them stop, think and relook their apathetic and risky behaviour when it comes to HIV/AIDS. By tapping into the insight that humans will attempt risky behaviour if they think there will be minimal or no chances of negative consequences, the safe sex message was delivered in an innovative, unexpected and hard-hitting manner. People had never experienced such a message in such a manner before, directly linked to their behaviour and choices that they made. How MWEB delivered the message is what made it memorable and made it one people who experienced it won’t easily forget.

South Africa has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world. But people have become desensitized to the usual print/press ads, billboards, posters, radio ads, TV ads, etc. about this pandemic. On World AIDS Day 2013, MWEB presented the safe sex message in a fresh, innovative manner using a medium people engage with daily to shake them out of their apathy towards HIV/AIDS.

Using the insight that it’s human nature for people to take a chance when presented with the opportunity – and especially if it seems like the risk of anything going wrong is minimal - MWEB sought to deliver a safe sex message using a medium people constantly engage with throughout the day – their mobile device.