Cute and Cuddly STD's

A friend of mine had to make a visit at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, and stumbled upon a very informative booth informing the public about Oklahoma's most common STD's.

"You don't look like you have anything. Get tested for everything."

Sure, there is nothing out of the realm of possibility.... but a Priest? Really? I don't think that a man of the cloth is your target audience. Hopefully STD's don't get passed around in the confessional!

Alas, it gets even better! In order to help people understand sexually transmitted diseases even better, they hired a cartoonist to give a fun twist to Oklahoma's most popular STD's. Lets check them out!

Syphilis. Apparently with a nose like that, Syphilis reminds me of Tigger. You know: "Their bottoms made out of a spring, They're bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy; Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!"

Human Papilloma Virus: This gumball gone wrong, still seems to be content in his STD state of being. Watch out kids, this isn't candy!

HIV: This kid friendly caricature seems more inviting than frightening! Like one of those warm fuzzies that your teachers would give you in the 1st grade.

Herpes: Now this cartoon is a little more sinister looking. It might have been a little more frightening if the graphics were a little better!

Gonorrhea: This STD looks like an elderly, overly tanned, surrounded by cigarette smoke granny in a track suit playing the slots at a Casino in Las Vegas. Well, probably more like Reno.

Although this is quite hilarious, I find it slightly disturbing. Either the DHS offices in Oklahoma are targeting kids with cartoon caricatures of STD's, OR (and possibly more likely) they assume their target audience is so intellectually challenged that they had to dumb the truth down. I'm praying that it isn't the first, because the way this disfunctional STD cartoon family has been assembled, coloring pages and puppets aren't much further down the road! In all seriousness, I'm a huge proponent of knowledge and uncomfortable truth. These cuddly STD's are more inviting than a huge crotch shot of an infected genital, but which would be a better deterrant?