The hugely successful, award-winning Scrutinize HIV prevention campaign returns to South African television screens on 16 December to highlight the risks of booze, sex and HIV, and the exchange of cool stuff by older lovers for sex which makes many young people vulnerable to HIV infection.

Scrutinize, featuring popular comedian Joey Rasdien, consists of a series of “animerts” – animated adverts – that uses real-life situations, hip language and humour to prompt viewers to “scrutinize” their own sexual practices and risky behaviours.

The main character is Victor, a taxi driver played by Rasdien, who is joined on his HIV-prevention adventures by Virginia the Shebeen Queen (played by Welile Tembe). Their nemesis is the HIV ninja, a silent killer who defeats the uninformed and unwary.

The Scrutinize campaign has been recognised in the form of a 2009 Khuza Award, which is voted for by children and young adults, as well as being a finalist in the category for education, scientific or industrial films at the prestigious International Animation Festival, held in Annecy, France.

“The Scrutinize television campaign is part of a multi-pronged approach to reaching young South Africans, including a nationwide campus and community roadshow, Victor’s Facebook page and the www.scrutinize.org.za website,” says Bronwyn Pearce, Deputy Country Programme Director for Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa (JHHESA).

“By utilising real-life situations and fun, uplifting messaging, the Scrutinize advertisements have been able to speak to young people like no other campaign has. Rebroadcasting the alcohol, sex and HIV and the transactional sex animerts are intended over the holiday period to remind people who may be tempted to indulge in risky behaviours” says Pearce.

In addition, an exciting new animert will pilot in January, the aim of which is to address the benefits of delaying sexual debut, highlighting the risks of unplanned pregnancy and HIV in Scrutinize’s own inimitable style.

Scrutinize is a national campaign being undertaken by USAID/PEPFAR and Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa in partnership with the popular youth brand Levis, other South African partners and with creative incubation by Matchboxology.

The entire Scrutinize advertising campaign is also the first content to be made available on Young Africa Live, a .mobi portal launched on World AIDS Day that is aimed getting young South Africans talking about love, sex and relationships.

It aims to present issues faced by youths on a daily basis in an authentic, heartfelt, first-person narrative, and spark peer-to-peer discussion and debate in a “post-and-comment” relationship akin to other popular forms of social networking.

A body of HIV/AIDS facts and information is available to Young Africa Live users – in both text and video format. A novel feature of the portal is a blog for HIV-positive contributors, which destigmatises the disease as something that “other people” have.