GAS retro T Shirt design, Captain Condom All Characters 1987 by Bill Houston CC-02
Captain Condom:- Works as a cashier in a sperm bank before he changes into our hero.
Johnny:- The Captains trusty partner who is a tea boy in the same sperm bank.
Birth Rate Rose:- Rose is the sworn enemy of the Captain and uses her needle whenever she can.
Frenchie:- The Throb-ot is operated by battery and has inter changeable heads.
The Condomobile:- A bubble car with a gossamer roof which pulsates whenever a condom is needed.
This series of five characters of which the Captain is the lead was our response to the World Health Organisation initiative. Our Graphics studio head, Bill Houston developed the idea in February 1987. The WHO Global Program on AIDS was to raise awareness. The British Government promoted "AIDS: Don't Die of Ignorance" as its response. The government believed that millions of people could become infected and a leaflet was sent to every home in the UK.
Norman Fowler, then Secretary of State for Health, felt that prime minister Margret Thatcher "wasn't a natural supporter" of the campaign as she felt that informing people of HIV and unprotected sex would make people more likely to engage in such practices; a view that Fowler thought was "eccentric" The ad agency thought "The big problem was that nobody knew anything about it. It was like an alien plague. Where did it come from? How big would it get? Panic and speculation was spreading". Fowler claimed that "90% of the public recognised the advert and a vast number changed their behaviour because of it" and as it was a "life and death situation...There was no time to think about whether it might offend one or two people" as hospital wards were "full of young men dying".......Not much changes, just the age group.
• Ringspun Preshrunk Cotton T-Shirt
• 30 Single Yarn For A Softer Feel
• Specific European Fitting
• GAS Label
• Narrow Rib Knit Collar
• Seamless Double-Needle Collar
• Taped Neck & Shoulders
• Double Needle Sleeves & Bottom Hem
• Quarter-Turned To Eliminate Centre Crease