A New Zealand charity recently won an award at Cannes Lions for a curious advertising campaign — claiming that the country is the best place in the world to have herpes.
The campaign was created by the New Zealand Herpes Foundation last October, aiming to destigmatize the virus, which is often transmitted through sexual contact, through a faux tourism campaign.
“To fix our national pride, the solution is obvious: herpes,” reads a headline on the campaign’s website.
In a video for the campaign, former head coach of New Zealand’s national rugby team, Sir Graham Henry, jokingly laments the country’s diminishing sources of pride, including an “embarrassingly low” sheep-to-human ratio.
“We need something new to be proud of. Something big and brave to put us back on the map,” Sir Henry said in the video while scrawling the word “HERPES” across a chalkboard.
“It’s time for New Zealand to become the best place in the world to have herpes.”
The website also ranks countries across the globe. Predictably, New Zealand is at the top of the list. America was ranked number six.
“Forget doom and gloom. There’s enough of that already to go around,” David Ohana, communications chief at the United Nations Foundation and a Canne Lions jury president, said to BBC News.
“Our 2025 awardee took a taboo topic and turned it on its head — showing that with a great strategy, a big, bold, crazy idea … and humor for days, that anything is possible.”
The campaign’s website also has several video courses aimed to “break the stigma” of the virus. Nearly 1 in 3 sexually active New Zealanders have some form of Herpes. To date, over 25,000 people have completed the online courses, according to the foundation.
“Popular media, misinformation, and New Zealanders’ awkwardness talking about sex — has led to huge stigmatization for those living normal lives with the virus,” reads a campaign press release from last October.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
