Interactive Audiovisual and Civic Engagement: A Film Analysis of "Condom, No Condom?" As A Public Communication Initiative

Bruno de Oliveira
Universidade Estadual
Interactive audiovisual and
Paulista civic engagement: a film
analysis of “Condom, no
Condom?” as a public
communication initiative
Audiovisual interativo
e engajamento cívico:
análise do filme “Condom, no
Condom?” como iniciativa de
comunicação pública
El audiovisual interactivo y el
compromiso civico: El análisis
de la película “Condom, no
Condom?” como una iniciativa
de comunicación pública
C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

189
ABSTRACT
Based on the british film “Condom, no Condom?”, the present paper intends to
investigate to what extent interactive audiovisual works has the potential to inform,
to raise awareness and to produce civic engagement. The bibliographic survey
in the first part of this work is based on authors from both, public communica-
tion studies and studies concerning the use of language in digital media. All the
results obtained will be employed in the process of analysis of the film in order
to assess the communication strategies adopted. From the mentioned results we
may highlight how careful are addressed all the technical information available,
the recommendations to explore the specificities of digital media considering that
culture, technological and usability variables must also be taken into account. We
aim to make a contribution to public communication studies as well as to profes-
sionals acting in the field of developing similar initiatives.
Keywords: interactive audiovisual; public communication; digital media; hypertextual
narrative; civic engagement.
RESUMO
Adotando como corpus o filme britânico “Condom, no Condom?”, o presente
artigo pretende averiguar o potencial que obras audiovisuais interativas possuem
de informar, conscientizar e gerar engajamento cívico. Autores do âmbito da
comunicação pública e dos estudos de linguagem nos meios digitais subsidiarão
o levantamento bibliográfico nas primeiras etapas do trabalho. Os resultados
identificados servirão como parâmetros para que seja realizada a análise do corpus
a fim de avaliar as estratégias de comunicação adotadas. Destacam-se entre os
resultados o cuidado com o tratamento da informação técnica disponibilizada, a
recomendação em explorar as especificidades dos meios digitais e que variáveis
culturais, tecnológicas, de usabilidade e de linguagem devem ser consideradas.
Espera-se contribuir com os estudos de comunicação pública e com os profissionais
que atuam na elaboração de iniciativas similares.
Palavras-chave: audiovisual interativo; comunicação pública; meios digitais; nar-
rativa hipertextual; engajamento cívico.
RESUMEN
Basado en la película inglesa “Condom, no Condom?”, el presente trabajo pre-
tende analizar cual es el potencial que las obras audiovisuales interactivas tienen
para informar, concientizar y generar compromiso cívico. Autores del ámbito de los
estudios de la comunicación publica y de los estudios de la lenguaje en el medios
digitales proveen el levantamiento bibliográfico en la primera parte del trabajo.
Los resultados identificados servirán como parámetros para que sea realizado
el análisis de la película con el fin de evaluar las estrategias de comunicación
adoptadas. Se destacan entre los resultados el cuidado con el tratamiento de la
información técnica disponible, la recomendación de explorar las especificidades
de los medios digitales y que las variables culturales, las variables culturales,
tecnológicas, de usabilidad y de lenguaje deben ser consideradas. Se espera
contribuir con los estudios de comunicación pública y con los profesionales que
actúan en la elaboración de iniciativas similares.
Palabras clave: audiovisual interactivo; comunicación pública; medios digitales;
narrativa hipertextual; compromiso cívico.
Submissão: 22-10-2014
Decisão editorial: 15-08-2017
190 C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

Introduction
The possibilities offered by technological advan-
ces in the media have opened up new perspecti-
ves in the field of public communication. The Internet
has characteristics that allow the use of creative and
effective strategies in the service of democracy, and
one of the degrees of this digital democracy is the
availability of information. It is the role of any govern-
ment to ensure that basic information on public servi-
ces is passed efficiently to the population. Health, as a
basic right to the community, must also have, on the
part of the government, information that guarantees
its promotion, prevention, and assistance. One of these
fronts, the promotion, is to encourage civic engage-
ment through effective strategies and addressing a
particular subject to a specific audience.
An audiovisual production in this scenario, the
interactive film “Condom, no Condom?1”, will be the
corpus of this study2. Commissioned by the NHS – the
public health system in the UK - and published in 2010,
the film puts the viewer as a young man who goes
1 Available at: <http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=b6KjA7FVoBo>. Accessed on: 10 Oct. 2017.
2 A preliminary version of this research was presented at the X
Conferência Brasileira de Mídia Cidadã and V Conferência Sul-
Americana de Mídia Cidadã UNESP, event occurred in Bauru,
São Paulo, Brazil, April 22-24, 2015.

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to a party with some friends and meets a girl there,

with whom he intends to have sex. The character’s
choices are passed on to the audience during cer-
tain moments in the plot. Because of his attitudes, he
may or may not contract sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs). It is presented at the end, regardless of which
outcome the spectator’s choices take them, informa-
tion on nine of these diseases. From the analysis of this
production, this study intends to answer the following
question: in what way can audiovisual productions for
digital media generate civic engagement? The ob-
jective is to contribute to the work of researchers and
professionals responsible for creating and elaborating
strategies in public communication on the internet,
considering the possibilities offered in this environment
and its potential in creating an efficient way of dis-
seminating information that guarantees democracy.
In its first part, we intend to explain the relevance
of providing information to the population, and a bi-
bliographic review of studies of public communication
will be made to address this issue. Next, a brief survey
of the potential and characteristics of the Internet and
its resources as an appropriate media for the deve-
lopment of strategies for digital democracy will be
made - authors of public communication and digital
media language will subsidize this stage. Through an
analysis of the strategies of production of meaning,
the interactive film will then be investigated according
to the parameters identified in the previous sections.
The focus is to see if it fulfills the goal of providing
information appropriately and, as a result, engaging
in civic engagement. The results will be systematized
and presented in order to propose contributions to the
directors and researchers of similar initiatives.

Audiovisual interativo e engajamento cívico: análise do filme “Condom,
no Condom?” como iniciativa de comunicação pública
Information provision and civic engagement

The provision of information through official chan-
nels destined to the population is a recurring degree
in digital democracy-related researches. It consists of
considering information and communication techno-
logies (ICTs) and cyberspace as democratic instru-
ments, as generic government information circulates
and improves the provision of public services (SILVA,
2005, p. 454). Because it is a predominantly one-way
flow of interaction, this degree can at first appear to
be the least effective tool when the goal is to gene-
rate civic engagement and political participation of
the population. However, combined with other forms
of interaction and elaborated in the right way, this
method can be an important ally in the structuring
of a planning that aims to foment a democratic par-
ticipation.
By varying the way they are listed at different sca-
les, public consultations and deliberative debates are
brought as deeper ways of exploring the possibilities
of digital democracy and are seen as more effective
channels of communication. However, these relations
between State and citizens can really benefit when
information previously organized and available have
already served as a basis for the construction of kno-
wledge about the subjects treated. To fight for public
policies and to involve citizens in democratic proces-
ses, it is fundamental that, first, the distance between
the well informed and the less informed decreases,
thus guaranteeing equal participation in deliberative
actions (OECD, 2003, p. 30). With access to informa-
tion, the population can know through official sources
data related to the specific topics, and to organize

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their participation by seeking out their interest and

optimizing the progress of discussions and results.
The need to develop new techniques has been
a concern to generate engagement in people. The
challenge lies not only in developing such techniques
but also in creating something that is both broad and
dense at the same time. One of the challenges in
designing a public communication content for this pur-
pose is, after setting a goal, to define an audience.
It is extremely complex to create a strategy without
targeting it to a specific audience, and the more di-
verse the audience is, the more challenging it be-
comes. With this definition being more focused, the
probability of the attempt to generate engagement is
greater, because in this way the chances of creating
an identification by the public with the language used
are greater (OECD, 2003, p. 30).
And it has not been simple to define which au-
dience to focus on or which communication strategy
to use since citizens themselves have changed. The
challenge for content producers today is to satisfy a
broad demand for the media used by people, and
there is an attempt by these producers to satisfy the
public’s desire to actively participate in the produc-
tion and circulation of media content (nowadays
no longer an exclusivity of media companies). This
phenomenon is known as the convergence culture
(JENKINS, 2008). This new cultural transformation has
impacted several areas, such as the entertainment
industry, education, economics, and, among them,
politics, as it opens space for new forms of participa-
tion by the population. Consumers are developing skills
both to filter and to engage with media content, and
the producers need to be alert to the growing auto-

nomy of these consumers. We are living in a moment

of transition, and all technology opens rich possibilities
for human communication and expands in a signifi-
cant way the cognitive capacities (NAVARRO, 2010).
In this new context in which consumers were previously
isolated and today are connected and participate in
the media processes, not only the dynamics of con-
sumption but also the forms of citizen participation
have changed, since new technologies allow different
ways of involvement in the decisions of a community
(OECD, 2003, p. 30).
This is the context in which the supply of informa-
tion is embedded, and for it to be effective, it must be
clear, accessible to all, objective, relevant and unders-
tandable to its public - it must avoid complex terms
such as legal and scientific, for example (OECD, 2003,
p. 46). When the subject is public health, “communica-
tion asserts itself as an essential element, functioning
as a strategic area for interaction and exchange of
information between institutions, community and indi-
viduals” (BECKER; ROSENZWEIG, 2015, p. 121). Before
presenting and analyzing “Condom, no Condom?” - a
public communication initiative created to promote
health - the main characteristics and advantages of
the media that presents a great potential to offer con-
ditions for the provision of information will be addres-
sed: the digital environment.
Digital media and democracy

In order to have a communication and learning
potential, information must have specific characteris-
tics and be allied with motivational elements (JERIT;
KUKLINSKI; QUIRK; RICH, 2001). Such an environment
can achieve better results in relation to citizen parti-

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cipation in the decision-making processes in public

policies. In this context, the digital media and its
hypertextual structure are seen as supports with great
potentiality. Lemos (1997) summarizes the concept of
hypertext as a structure composed of texts of different
natures and identifies the ability to promote non-linear
reading and navigation as an advantage. Navigability
combined with the possibility of articulating different
texts (such as writing, sounding, imagery and audio-
visual) allows it to be a powerful tool for the provision
of adequate information. Consequently, they provide
the acquisition of knowledge by offering a greater
possibility for controlling the cognitive experience.
Studies point out that texts structured in hyperlinks
have been seen as a way of encouraging the assimila-
tion of knowledge, and one of the factors that explain
this phenomenon is the fact that human memory, as
this research points out, is also constructed by connec-
tions of meaning between concepts - both are made
by individual nodes connected by links (ROTHBERG,
2009). Another advantage of the hypertextual structu-
re is that, by allowing this more precise control on the
user side, it generates more motivation to learn, since
new paths are offered at different times (and in diffe-
rent formats) while in a linear structure any interruption
can generate disinterest. This configuration and form
of navigability also allow a degree of access to this
information superior to all the forms that existed be-
fore, contributing to the existence of better-informed
citizens (LÉVY, 2003).
Other factors must be taken into account in a
strategy of public communication in the digital envi-
ronment, such as the articulation not only of content in
a single media but also between different media. The

citizen establishes different relationships with each of

them and by knowing how to distribute and conduct
content between them it can greatly increase the
chances of successful communication. It is possible
in this context to conceive a transmedia production
that, according to Jenkins (2009, p.138) is one that
“unfolds through multiple media platforms, with each
new text contributing in a distinct and valuable way
to the whole.” According to the author, each media
should serve what it does best, and although autono-
mous, each content serves as access to the whole.
It is important that the creators of public communi-
cation campaigns consider in their strategies these
possibilities of disposing and articulating content in
different media.
It is also necessary a great effort on the part of
the governments, involving aspects such as changes
in culture, correct application of the technology of
the information in the communication and treatment
of the information (CANELA; NASCIMENTO, 2009). For
example, you cannot present an online information
bank with complex interconnections to non-expe-
rienced users. A gradual change must be planned to
avoid giving up and failing to understand. However,
even with much to be developed (in the technologi-
cal field and above all in the communication field),
the possibilities opened by the Internet for successfully
achieving the goal of providing quality information to
the population are evident, leading, therefore, to civic
engagement and participation in the management
of public policies.
The Internet, as a communication media used by
young people for entertainment and learning, ends up
being a space with greater potential to build strate-

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gies that generate engagement and involvement. This

part of the population has shown less and less interest
in conventional policies, but they are also dissatisfied
with their lack of involvement. Therefore, the essence
of a public piece of communication for these people
should be their structure and style, and they should
avoid resembling the traditional forms. On the other
hand, it is not enough just to be on the internet: the
information made available online should follow the
guidelines mentioned, such as clarity, objectivity and
easy access. Information and communicative appro-
aches should have quality so the Internet can act as
a means of social and political inclusion (ROTHBERG;
GRANATO; CAMARGO, 2015, p. 89). It is not just a mat-
ter of technology, but how communication will deal
with it (OECD, 2003, p. 67).
One of the possible uses is the interactive audio-
visual, and one of the ways to use this modality is to
design a content composed of segments of videos
and connected through links. Producers have used
this possibility to tell fictional stories for informational
purposes. An interactive narrative has a strong po-
tential to attract and hold the attention of those who
come to it, because while it is driven by objectives
that guide navigation, it allows the public to circu-
late its paths through the choices made - and the
experiences lived by the protagonist of the story can
be experienced in the same way by the spectator
(MURRAY, 2003, p.134). By linking this artistic resour-
ce to informative content, it is possible to obtain a
work that combines the power to hold public atten-
tion with the objectives of providing information and
elucidating specific issues, generating engagement.
It should be remembered, however, that interactive

processes are much more complex than requesting

physical action from the viewer with a media device,
and what is recommended to ensure participation is to
create an environment in which the activities perfor-
med by the audience generate effects and significant
consequences to the experience (MANOVICH, 2001;
MURRAY, 2003).
The corpus that was chosen for this study, the
interactive film “Condom, no Condom?”, is in this
scenario, because besides being produced in an un-
conventional format (structured in a hypertextual nar-
rative) has very well delimited the objective, target,
and language. In the following section, the film will
be presented and then it will be verified if it meets
the main requirements to be considered an effective
public communication work.
Condom, no Condom?
In a statement to the press, NHS Bristol (unit in
Bristol city of the British health service) released offi-
cial information on the interactive movie “Condom,
no Condom?”. The document says that the film com-
missioned by NHS Bristol in partnership with the NHS
Choices3 portal aims to inform and make young peo-
ple aware that condoms are the only contraceptive
method capable of avoiding pregnancy and sexually
transmitted diseases simultaneously. It also says that
men between the ages of 16 and 24 were chosen
as the campaign target, but notes that information
about safe sex is also relevant to women. Finally, the
document concludes by saying that to achieve this
goal the campaign bets on the impact that the film
will cause on those who watch it, and points out that
3 Available at: <www.nhs.uk>. Accessed on: 10 Oct. 2017.

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what is expected is that the production leads to a

conviction that it is imperative to protect itself in the
sexual act.
Featuring a total of 15 segments of videos made
specifically for the campaign and linked through
YouTube’s notes system links (Google’s video sharing
site), the story featured in the movie is told from the
central character’s point of view. A boy who meets
his friends who will take him to a party but not before
going to a convenience store. In the said party, the
boy will meet a girl and his choices will define the
degrees of his relationship with her. His attitudes may
lead him to contract STDs or not. Despite the different
ways of reaching them, there are three different types
of consequences: one in which he can have sexual
intercourse without exposing himself to the risk of con-
tracting an illness or leaving the young woman preg-
nant; another in which he is rejected by the girl, but,
on the other hand, he is not exposed to health risks;
and the last one in which he has sexual relations and
contracts a sexually transmitted disease. Navigability
allows the public to restart the trajectory and resume
the narrative experience.
When the outcome is the last one, soon after the
healthcare worker notifies the character that he has
contracted a disease, the options offered to the pu-
blic are buttons with the names of the STDs (figure 1).
The diseases are Chlamydia, herpes, gonorrhea, he-
patitis B, HIV, warts, crabs, syphilis and hepatitis C. The
option to return and make a different choice is also
presented. When clicking on any of the diseases, the
user is directed to videos hosted on the NHS channel
on YouTube (and not for videos produced specifically
for the campaign, which has its own account).

Figure 1 – Buttons with sexually transmitted diseases offered as op-

tions at the end where the boy is infected.
Source: campaign channel on YouTube.
The idea is to present an interactive movie. To

follow a unit of the sense of the narrative the audien-
ce must click on the choices offered at the end of
each section. Aesthetically it opted for a fast and
dynamic film assembly. All sections have less than a
minute and successive cuts leave in the final version
only what is relevant to understand the progress of the
plot. Another choice adopted by the producers was
to tell the story from the point of view of the central
character (figure 2).
The narrative is not complex, but the interacti-
ve structure dynamizes the simplicity of the story and
the aesthetic options make the audiovisual production
pleasant to be seen and navigated. The successful
reach of the campaign is proven in the two million
visits - a sum of views of all segments4. It is necessary,
4 Information available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/

healthcare-network/2011/jun/08/nhs-viral-videos-online-public-
health>. Accessed on: 10 Oct. 2017.

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Figure 2 - Example from the point of view of the main character,

perspective by which the whole story is told up to the point where
the information about the diseases is selected

however, to verify if it fulfills its objective as a pro-
duction of public communication, that is, if it informs,
raises awareness and promotes engagement.
It is possible to affirm that the decision to create a
narrative planned exclusively for online broadcasting
and, besides that, that uses the navigability features
made easily possible by the connected digital media,
is already a way to adapt the production to the me-
dia used by the elected public for the campaign: the
internet. YouTube, the portal on which the campaign
was hosted, “is part of the mass media scene and is a
force to be considered in the context of contempo-
rary popular culture” (BURGESS; GREEN, 2009, p. 13).
Hosting the campaign in the same digital environment
already used by the public can increase the chances
of the film being found and watched. Leading the
public to health information through an interactive
and navigable fictional narrative can be considered
an unconventional way of informing young people.

The media that was chosen for the campaign and

the adopted language can be evaluated, at first, as
suitable for the public of this action: men between
the ages of 16 and 24.
Although all video clips are already finished and
always the same, the choices and renunciations pas-
sed to the public at the end of each clip generate a
sense of interactivity effect (MÉDOLA, 2006) and bring
the viewer closer to the character - the aesthetic op-
tion in using the subjective vision of this character as
a way of conducting the story reinforces this idea. As
Machado points out (2002, p. 12), “the subjective ca-
mera inserts the viewer into the scene, allowing him to
experience it as a seer subject involved in the action.”
For the author, mixing the view of the character with
the public is a powerful resource to create immer-
sion. In this way, it is possible to say that the viewer of
“Condom, no Condom” is not only the person who
is dealing with the doubts but also the person who
makes the important decisions - consequently, these
decisions reflect what the viewer would choose (or at
least would have the curiosity to choose). The intention
is that, through the positive or negative consequences
of the choices made with the character, the audience
can interpret it as likely directions that their own life
would follow when making the proposed decisions.
The big question that permeates the narrative ex-
perience (and is anticipated by the title) is proposed
in the first screen of options: buying or condoms or
not (figure 3). This strategy sets a goal to the Internet
user who must ponder their decisions in anticipation
of future consequences.

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Figure 3 - “Buy condoms” and “Don’t buy condoms”. Options offe-

red at the end of the first section of “Condom, no Condom?”.
On hypertextual narratives, Murray (2003, p. 84)

states that by following a branching structure that li-
mits choices to the selection of alternatives from a fi-
xed menu, producers are not taking advantage of the
potential of digital environments to create possibilities
that contain a greater variety of human behavior. In
“Condom, no Condom?” it does not take much time
to realize that the outcomes are few and inevitable.
The purpose of passing on the information is reser-
ved for the few final moments, and the impression
that can be transmitted is that the participation in
the narrative, as well as artificial, was only a pretext
to raise awareness through guilt - a feeling that the
film seems to want to awaken in the viewer by placing
them, as verified in the strategies described above, as
the character of the story. The narrative path could
also have been a way to inform in different contexts,
and a wider range of sanctions conditioned by the

choices (which could have been more complex and

less deterministic) would have a greater potential to
provide a participatory experience that would reach
the goal of communication.
From the access data, likes and possible paths
of the hypertextual structure of the videos produced
for the campaign (figure 4), it is possible to note that
although most of the public decisions correspond to
the purchase of condoms, there is an equivalence
between those who decide to use the condom that
was purchased with those who choose to ask the girl
to have unprotected sex in the scenario in which the
protagonist did not buy condoms. One possible in-
terpretation is that viewers were actually curious to
see the consequences of opposing decisions. Another
important factor is verified: there are more accesses in
the segment in which the couple repeats the sexual
intercourse using condoms again (Go back to Jen’s)
than in the initial video. The segment congratulates
the choice of the public and the high number of vi-
sits may point to an engagement that corresponds
to most responsible actions, or at least an awareness
of the risks (regardless of whether this will generate or
not the engagement necessary for the choice to be
made also in the life of this individual).

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Figure 4 - Hypertextual structure of the videos of “Condom, no Condom?”.
Source: prepared by the author with data obtained until the closing of this work, on October 10, 2017.
Even if the purpose was to inform only at the end

of the experiment and through guilt, when information
on STDs is presented - the main point of the film when
the goal is to inform and raise awareness - a lack of
care is observed. By clicking on the listed diseases, the
user is directed to videos of the official NHS YouTube
channel that were not specifically produced for the
campaign but had already been created and dis-
played on previous occasions. Few are from a date
close to the release of “Condom, no Condom?” - one
of them was uploaded to the site three years earlier.
Because they are made at different times and
for different purposes, the videos differ in technical,
aesthetic, and information quality: one of them has a
fictional narrative; two others bring testimonials from
patients who contracted the diseases; another video is
a generic report on STDs (which is used as an outcome
of three different choices); others present interviews
with experts explaining scientifically how the disease is
contracted, how it acts in the body, what symptoms
and how to prevent them; and another illustrates with
comic animation the importance of using condoms
(figure 5).
Figure 5 - Comparative example between two different ways of

explaining diseases. While the video on warts displays photos of the
symptoms (left), the gonorrhea one uses comic animation (right).

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The multiplicity of styles and qualities of the videos

interrupts what was being experienced with the propo-
sed narrative. The viewer is not only removed from the
story but finds the information presented in a confusing
and non-cohesive way. By clicking on “hepatitis B,”
“crabs,” or “syphilis,” for example, redirection leads to
the same video that does not provide specific infor-
mation about any of them, while “warts” gives objec-
tive information about the disease. Another relevant
observation is that in some of these videos the terms
used in the explanations are extremely scientific and
instead of elucidating may confuse even more the
young person who intends to understand that subject.
The views and likes counts of the final videos
available (table 1) point to less access than the initial
segment of the fictional story. Considering that these
videos were available before, the number of views co-
ming exclusively from the segments produced for the
“Condom, no Condom?” campaign should be even
smaller. Knowing that the viewer who has reached the
end may have chosen to learn only about something
he did not know, it is not safe to say that there was
no engagement in the completion of the narrative
experience. However, among the possible factors that
clarify this reduction of views and likes (such as giving
up during the narrative), one explanation is the lack of
consistency between the videos, as well as language
incoherence between them.

Table 1 - Data of the STDs videos available at the

end of the narrative.
Video title Views Likes Dislikes

A responsible romance: getting 187.644 86 24
tested for chlamydia
Genital herpes: Marian’s story 66.310 107 8
Hepatitis C: Jazzy’s story 48.563 72 2
Genital warts 32.741 14 9
HIV 31.320 16 8
STIs: who’s got one? 25.827 10 2
Source: prepared by the author with data obtained until the closing
of this work, on October 10, 2017.
It is observed the non-careful use of the poten-

tialities of a hypertextual environment. The navigation
that initially served the narrative as an interactive
and immersive experience is now used as an esca-
pe point from what has been developed. Perhaps it
would have been more interesting if the story and
the characters carried on after the STDs choices, so
that the public, already connected with the propo-
sed fictional universe, could follow the impacts of the
choices made and, consequently, learn about the
diseases. Another possible path was to lead to other
content platforms, designing a transmedia campaign
and using the videos on YouTube as an attractive en-
try for productions in other media that together would
contribute to the goal of disseminating information.
Two other factors that interfered with the pro-
gress of the campaign were: the blocking and remo-
val of some videos at different times; and how young
people’s sexual relations were represented. In the
cases of blocking and removal (noticed at different

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stages of the research), there is a clear interruption of

experience, sufficient to end the campaign’s poten-
tial for engagement. Regarding the choices in how
to represent sexual relations, the segment containing
this moment received age restriction because it was
considered inappropriate for minors according to the
guidelines of the video portal (figure 6), and to watch,
the user must create an account and prove to be
over eighteen, or sign in with an existing account. Of
course, this makes the narrative experience difficult
for those who are not accessing through an account
or interrupts definitively for the audience under the
age of eighteen, that is, part of the target audience.
Figure 6 - Segment of the movie restricted by YouTube. Additional

text has been included to the title to instruct how to continue after
the interruption, if the user is eighteen years of age or older.

It was not only the portal that evaluated the con-

tent as inappropriate. Some members of society have
also judged as irresponsible the choice of the public
health unit to represent the sexual act explicitly and
comparable to pornographic content, arguing also
that the narrative is developed in a context in which
casual and uncommitted sex is not a problem and
that it is enough as a right choice to adopt the use
of condoms, not considering in the character’s op-
tions abstinence as a method of prevention5. Perhaps
this was the factor that motivated another change
made by campaigners: blocking user comments on
the videos with the fictional story. The importance of
considering the cultural and social spheres in which
the campaign is inserted is evidenced in this obser-
vation. If the goal was to cause a real impact and
sustain that position, it would have been more prudent
to host the content on a server of its own, since on
YouTube the material is subject to the guidelines of the
portal (which in this case it considers the evaluation
of other users).
It is also possible to verify an absence of concern
with accessibility, since the audiovisual production
does not have resources such as audio description,
subtitling or sign language. Men between the ages
of 16 and 24 who are visually or hearing impaired are
not included in this public communication campaign.
Despite the identified obstacles, all videos (availa-
ble) end with an address of the NHS portal or provide
a link in the description so that more content can be
accessed. This measure is positive because it is through
5 Information available at: <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

news/article-1329403/NHS-condoms-video-Porn-No-trying-
encourage-teenagers-use-contraception.html>. Accessed
on: 10 Oct. 2017.

211
Bruno de Oliveira
it that the public can seek to deepen in the subject

or contact with the responsible organs - fundamental
factors to generate engagement. Without this oppor-
tunity, the public could not find a way to clarify any
doubts or consult specific information not contained
in the audiovisual materials.
Final considerations
The goal of this study was to investigate a produc-
tion developed to achieve the purposes of a public
communication that uses the potential of the internet
in its strategies. “Condom, no Condom?” is the result
of an attempt to explore the possibilities opened by
this media and, using the resources of the interactive
audiovisual language, inform a specific audience.
Positive decisions were identified such as: to allo-
cate the content in a portal widely used by the peo-
ple to whom the campaign was destined, to conceive
a fictional universe coherent with the experience lived
by this public, to adopt a dynamic approach in the
filmic assembly (bringing the film closer to other cultu-
ral products watched in the contemporary audiovisual
scenario), to use the hypertextual structure to allow
participation in the proposed narrative and to provide
ways of contact with official health agencies. On the
other hand, the combination of failures, points to a
commitment to inform and generate civic engage-
ment, such as the interruption of the fictional narrative,
a lack of coherence of the specific contents about
the disease, a segment that cannot be seen by one
part of the public, few different narratives outcomes,
an experience of fruition that can be evaluated as
artificial from the participatory point of view, discour-
se with scientific language probably not intelligible

to whom the campaign was destined, the sexual act

represented in a controversial way in the local cultural
context and the lack of accessibility resources. The-
se failures highlight the many variables that must be
considered when designing a successful campaign.
From these results, it is recommended that the
strategies identified here as positive serve as an inspi-
ration for the creators of the campaigns for informa-
tional purposes and that the mistakes found serve as a
warning to those who see the digital media as a place
to generate civic engagement. It became clear that
for a public communication strategy designed for the
Internet that seeks to inform a specific segment, it is
not enough that information is placed in the digital
environment: they must be articulated according to
what is expected by the public and consider cultural,
technological, usability and language variables. It is
concluded that experiences such as “Condom, no
Condom?” are important as strategies of public com-
munication and it is hoped that the results from the
study of this campaign may guide future audiovisual
productions with similar purposes, as well as assist the
studies of Communication.
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C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

190 C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

1 Available at: <http://www.youtube.com/

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

to a party with some friends and meets a girl there,

192 C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

Information provision and civic engagement

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

their participation by seeking out their interest and

194 C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

nomy of these consumers. We are living in a moment

Digital media and democracy

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

cipation in the decision-making processes in public

196 C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

citizen establishes different relationships with each of

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

gies that generate engagement and involvement. This

198 C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

processes are much more complex than requesting

3 Available at: <www.nhs.uk>. Accessed on: 10 Oct. 2017.

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

what is expected is that the production leads to a

200 C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

Figure 1 – Buttons with sexually transmitted diseases offered as op-

The idea is to present an interactive movie. To

4 Information available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

Figure 2 - Example from the point of view of the main character,

Source: campaign channel on YouTube.

202 C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

The media that was chosen for the campaign and

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

Figure 3 - “Buy condoms” and “Don’t buy condoms”. Options offe-

Source: campaign channel on YouTube.

On hypertextual narratives, Murray (2003, p. 84)

204 C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

choices (which could have been more complex and

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

Even if the purpose was to inform only at the end

Figure 5 - Comparative example between two different ways of

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

The multiplicity of styles and qualities of the videos

208 C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

Table 1 - Data of the STDs videos available at the

Video title Views Likes Dislikes

It is observed the non-careful use of the poten-

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

stages of the research), there is a clear interruption of

Figure 6 - Segment of the movie restricted by YouTube. Additional

Source: campaign channel on YouTube.

210 C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

It was not only the portal that evaluated the con-

5 Information available at: <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

it that the public can seek to deepen in the subject

212 C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017

to whom the campaign was destined, the sexual act

BURGESS, J.; GREEN, J. YouTube e a Revolução Digital: como o maior

CANELA, G.; NASCIMENTO, S. (coords.). Acesso à informação e

C&S – São Bernardo do Campo, v. 39, n. 3, p. 189-214, set./dez. 2017