Sex sells, and I ain’t buying

The Quebec government have always taken a wholeheartedly literal approach to warning its people of the dangers of speed, sex and booze. The above advert is part of its newest campaign to warn Randy Young Things of the perils of chlamydia–which, according to smart people, is on the rise in Quebec as it is everywhere else in North America.

I’ve never been convinced of the effectiveness of these types of ads. After all, it wasn’t a typically over-the-top sensibility campaign (like this one) that caused a decrease in the number of road deaths in Quebec recently. It was increased police surveillance and, in the last year, the introduction of photo radar. The lesson, in Quebec as elsewhere, is not to hit people in the eyes, but their wallets.

I find these types of ads more interesting sociologically. Can you see these types of ads on billboards in, say, Calgary or St. John, or anywhere else beyond these borders? (Ok, mebbe Toronto…) I think I know the answer, but I’m asking anyway.