The hugely popular HIV/AIDS prevention campaign, Scrutinize, is getting into the football spirit with new “animerts” (animated television commercials) that use football analogies to highlight the dangers of risky sexual behaviour.

“Sporting terms such as ‘playing the field’ and ‘scoring’ take on a whole new meaning when you link them with HIV and AIDS,” says Scrutinize project manager Bronwyn Pearce, of Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa.

“It’s generally considered cool to play the field, and fortunate to score – but that should only be the case on the field. Off the field, the danger is that the ‘playa’ may be infected with HIV. What we’re doing now, is using a football analogy to show how easy it is to pass HIV from one person to another.”

In the first new animert, Dangerous Passes, TV sports presenter Carol Manana joins taxi driver Victor – the motor-mouthed voice of Scrutinize, played by comedian Joey Rasdien – to commentate a big match at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

The action is hot, as the ball is passed from toyboy (a man who sleeps with older women) to losgabi (a woman who is easily persuaded to have sex), who then passes it to sejabana (a man with many partners), who kicks it on to washesha (a man who frequently changes partners). Washesha passes the ball to the Minister of Finance (an older man who gives money to a younger partner in exchange for sex), who moves it on to young love (a young man who propositions a younger woman).

Young love lines up to score ... but wait! Suddenly Ninja HIV (whom viewers will recognise from previous Scrutinize animerts) appears from undercover to shibobo the style of all the players, and reveal how HIV has moved from one to the other.

“The Dangerous Passes animert contains several underlying messages: the risks associated with multiple sexual partnerships, how HIV spreads through sexual networks, and how one is often unaware of one’s partner’s sexual history,” says Pearce.

Then there are three new Red Card animerts, one 30-second and two 15-second commercials, that invite viewers to become a lifetime referee and Red Card Daai Ding (risky behaviour) – whenever someone makes a risky move, just like on the field, they are shown a red card.

In the 30-second commercial, titled Red Card, Shebeen Queen (an established Scrutinize character) Red Cards a very drunk patron and the two equally inebriated young women with him. In Phuza Protocol, a man who plies a woman with alcohol is handed a Red Card by the barman. And in Birds on a Wire, three schoolgirls Red Card a Minister of Transport (a man trying to impress them with his flashy car).

“So if someone drinks too much and loses their inhibitions, they might forget to use condoms – so Red Card Daai Ding!” says Pearce. “If you’re a Minister of Transport, or a sugar daddy or sugar momma, you must expect to get a Red Card. And if you’re a younger person being seduced by such characters, you’re not off the hook – you’ll also be shown a Red Card!

“What is very important to note, however, is that the red cards are not aimed at the people receiving them, but rather at their actions which contribute to the spread of HIV, such as intergenerational and transactional sex, and alcohol abuse.”

Cal Bruns, founder, CEO and chief creative incubationist of Cape Town-based creative agency Matchboxology, which produces the Scrutinize animerts, says: “Scrutinize is fresh, young and hip – and these new animerts are no exception. The play on football themes makes them particularly timely and relevant right now, what with the world’s biggest football tournament on our doorstep, and the messages they convey are clear and entertaining to watch.”

The new series of Scrutinize animerts will be televised from 28 June 2010.