Who's that girl?

Crissy is the new meth in your neighborhood

by Cynthia Laird, Bay Area Reporter, 8/20/97

Who is that thin woman popping up on cocktail napkins, postcards, and even in men's rooms at local gay bars? She's Crissy, part of a $10,000 campaign to draw attention to the use of crystal (speed, methamphetamine) among gay and bisexual men. The concept, a takeoff of a popular liquor ad campaign, is what Stop AIDS Project calls a "groundbreaking"effort to combat the growing epidemic of methamphetamine use among gay and bisexual men. The four-month campaign is being done to promote dialogue about the relationship between sex, speed, and HIV. Crissy, the star of the campaign, is staring to appear in print ads, bathroom ads, as well as postcard ads and on cocktail napkins, said Steven Gibson of Stop AIDS Project.

Creating a buzz
The Crissy campaign will feature an entourage of characters who reflect the diversity of gay and bisexual men who are part of the bar and club scene. The campaign is being funded in part through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Gibson emphasized that the agency has also received in excess of $10,000 in in-kind donations.

"We're getting tremendous discounts,"Gibson told the B.A.R. Just last weekend, he said, members of Stop AIDS Project were in the Castro handing out "Crissy care packages,"complete with a postcard of the new icon, condoms, lubricant, a Vitamin C tablet, and a brochure about speed.

"We're trying to create a buzz,"Gibson said.

They may be succeeding. Recently, the Crissy cocktail napkins appeared at a couple of local bars, which also had cocktail napkins featuring a well-known and controversial tobacco company icon. Crissy has truly arrived, Gibson said, adding people are indeed talking about the mysterious woman; some wondered whether Crissy would be a new club.

Unclear on concept?
"We decided to make Crissy appeal to a very specific group of gay and bisexual men who are part of the bar and club scene. She is pop culture and personifies what is appealing about speed. She's thin, sexy, fabulous, and stays out dancing all night,"explained David Boyer, media manager for Stop AIDS Project.

"Studies show that gay and bisexual men who use speed are more than twice as likely to get infected. We want to get them talking about speed, sex, and HIV without glamorizing the drug or dehumanizing the user,"Gibson said.

By making Crissy appear as a "thin, sexy, fabulous"icon, that concept remains a little unclear. A caption at the bottom of the ad reads, "Party smart, boys,"while the top reads, "Crissy's curious: Can you party and still keep your wits about you?Ó

In the past year, merchants and community members in the Castro, Polk, and South of Market districts have identified speed use (crystal meth) as a concern. The Stop AIDS Project initiated discussions with users and non-users to create a campaign that would encourage gay and bisexual men to talk about speed use and safe sex.

"Speed use is one of the reasons gay and bisexual men continue to get infected with HIV,"Gibson said. "A lot of guys use speed to heighten their sexual experiences and lose their inhibitions about sex.Ó

The Crissy campaign will feature seven different messages in the next four months. A new website, launched July 30, will allow the conversation about speed to continue online. SF Bay Yahoo, one of the world wide web premiere directory services, selected the website as one of its "Cool Sites of the Week"for its innovative approach. In two days, the website received more than 3,000 hits.

Stop AIDS Project is a community-based HIV prevention program by and for gay and bisexual men of all ages and colors. The project, established in 1984, remains true to its founding mission, which is to develop and implement a community organizing project for self-identified gay and bisexual men in San Francisco that seeks to reduce HIV transmission and lessen the adverse effects of the HIV epidemic on the community.

For more information about the Crissy campaign or speed use among gay and bisexual men, call Stop AIDS Project at (415) 621-7177, ext. 2587 or visit the website at www.tweaker.org