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VD Is for Everybody (Ad Council / American Social Health Association)

“VD is for everybody”

A cheerful, catchy TV PSA warning that anyone can catch venereal disease. It was part of a two-year radio, TV and print run by the American Social Health Association with the Ad Council, one of the Council's first campaigns on a once-taboo subject.

Years
1969
Country
United States
Topic
HIV/STI
Asks people to
RecognizeSeek help
Strategy
Humor
Channel
PrintRadioTV
Audience
General publicYoung adults

Evidence

Self-reportedUnknown

The Ad Council credits the spot with raising awareness of how common VD was (per Jezebel). No outcome data found.

Sponsor (who paid)

  • Ad Council Ad Council (pro bono), campaign producer
  • American Social Health Association (now American Sexual Health Association) NGO, sponsor; commissioned the film

Credits (who made it)

Not recorded yet.

Executions (individual ads)

Sources

  1. VD Is for Everybody (1969) (Public Domain Review) archive
  2. This Retro PSA Is the Most Chipper Warning About Venereal Disease Ever (Jezebel) news
  3. VD is for everybody (1969) (Medfilm, Université de Strasbourg; unreviewed entry) reference
  4. The Advertising Council, Inc. (Reference for Business; 1970s 'taboo subjects such as venereal disease') reference

Research notes

Launch date is disputed: the Ad Council says 1969, while a New York Times item and ASHA (per Jezebel) put the rollout in 1973. The end year is unknown (about two years after launch per Medfilm). Agency and songwriter not found. Illinois Archives retrieval: no box number was found online. Candidate series are RS 13/2/207 Historical File 1941-97 (file list gives file no., material type, campaign name, agency, date), 13/2/204 Campaign Listings 1942-92, 13/2/218 Campaign Posters 1942-90, 13/2/214 Television PSAs 1963, 1971-92, 1997, 13/2/219 Campaign Files 1966-2004 and 13/2/280 Campaign Video Recordings.

Record cases/vd-is-for-everybody.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign