Episode 3132
Julio and Marisol
Mon, 2025-Dec-01 01:04 UTC
Length - 2:16
Direct Link
Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia's finest articles.
The featured article for Monday, 1 December 2025, is Julio and Marisol.
Julio and Marisol were the protagonists in a bilingual public-service advertising campaign (officially titled Decision in English or La Decisión in Spanish but commonly known by the characters' names) that ran from 1989 to 2001 in the New York City Subway. The focus of the campaign was promoting condom use to prevent AIDS. The well-known catchphrase was a line from the first installment, in which Marisol sobs, "I love you, but not enough to die for you".
The storyline, told in a style similar to a telenovela, follows a young Hispanic couple as they explore human sexuality and the effects of the AIDS epidemic on their relationship. The campaign was designed to appeal to a Hispanic audience, who were considered particularly at risk due to cultural attitudes that discouraged condom use. With action covering just a few days, the story was told at a rate of about one episode per year. The campaign has been described as "one part steamy soap opera, one part language instruction, and two parts AIDS education service".
The ads were praised by public health officials for presenting the educational material through situations which people could relate to their own lives, and by AIDS activists for breaking down the social stigma associated with the disease. They drew criticism, however, from family-values advocates who objected to the promotion of condoms and the tacit acceptance of homosexuality. Others objected to the stereotyping of Hispanics and the absence of gay or black characters. The artistic style of the drawings met with mixed reviews.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:04 UTC on Monday, 1 December 2025.
For the full current version of the article, see Julio and Marisol on Wikipedia.
This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.
Follow us on Bluesky at @wikioftheday.com.
Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.
Until next time, I'm neural Ruth.
|
|
