"You Won't Believe What We Like to Wear in Bed" poster

This poster was produced in the late 1980s during some of the worst years of the AIDS crisis. It cheekily plays on condom wearing.

The first New Zealander known to have HIV/AIDS, died in 1984. There were no treatments at that time and death was usually inevitable. The New Zealand AIDS Foundation was established in 1985 to contain the spread of the virus (https://www.nzaf.org.nz/about-us/history-of-nzaf/30-years/).

By the late 1980s, condom-wearing had become more widely understood as the only form of protection against contracting HIV through sex. But they were not very popular. So they had to be made more user-friendly and easier to buy to encourage people to use them. Extensive education campaigns were required over several years to increase adoption of condoms. From September 1985, condoms could be bought from supermarkets.

Since then, the New Zealand AIDS Foundation has created a wide range of safer sex campaigns to target particular groups, particularly those at risk, and to address shifting issues around HIV / AIDS.