AIDS monolith

John Hurt provides the voice-over for this UK Government pubic health advertisement which warns of the deadly implications of the AIDS virus in a dramatic manner: amid flames and smoke, the letters AIDS are chiselled into a giant tombstone, which falls to earth to have a bouquet thrown onto it.

With its ominous tone and funereal imagery, the advertisement was clearly intended to provoke concern, and to carry the immediate message that the risk from HIV affects everyone. But the intention was also to provide detailed information. The advert publicised a leaflet delivered to all households in Britain, part of a £73m, seven-year public education campaign that ran until 1993.