A new German AIDS awareness advertisement featuring Hitler having sex with a woman, has caused a furore in Europe.
The racy advertisement which also contains images of Josef Stalin and Saddam Hussein having intercourse, has been condemned by HIV charities around the continent.
Produced in German, Spanish and English, the ad runs with the tagline 'Aids is a Mass Murderer' and is set to be shown on German television next week. British charities are at the forefront of the protest, with concerns that it could be Aids patients, not the disease itself, that become associated with the war criminals, reported BBC online.
UK-based HIV charity, the Terrence Higgins Trust, says it is concerned the advert could be 'insensitive', by stigmatising people with the condition.
Vicky Sheard, the organisation's policy officer said, "One in four people in the UK with HIV doesn't know he or she has it, so anything that could increase stigmatisation and discourage them from coming forward to be tested isn't helpful."
But the agency Das Comitee, which has produced the advertisement says that the shock value is designed to scare people into safe sex.
{{/usCountry}}But the agency Das Comitee, which has produced the advertisement says that the shock value is designed to scare people into safe sex.
{{/usCountry}}“The campaign is designed to shake people up, to bring the topic of Aids back to centre stage, and to reverse the trend of unprotected sexual intercourse.'" said Dirk Silz, creative director of Das Comitee.