A critical perspective on the reception on three LoveLife billboards in rural Transkei

Abstract

One of South Africa's biggest NGOs, LoveLife, has attracted its share of controversy since its inception in 1999. Recently, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria which contributed 30% of LoveLife's annual budget, announced that it was withdrawing its funding of the NGO. Although the Global Fund did not provide reasons for the withdrawal of its funding, some local studies have questioned the efficacy of, in particular, the LoveLife media campaigns. This article provides an analysis of the reception of the three 2004 LoveLife billboards in rural Transkei. This is done in order to test the hypothesis that the 2004 LoveLife billboard campaign aimed at establishing a contemporary, trendy lifestyle characterised by an open, free and gender-equal sexuality, is bound to be ineffective amongst some social / ethnic groupings, because it does not: • Engage with perceptions regarding sexual intercourse and condom use at localised, culture-specific levels; • Provide accurate and accessible knowledge in a culture-sensitive format; and • Acknowledge culture-specific barriers to communication.