In the early 1980s in the United States, at the height of the AIDS epidemic, restrictions on blood donations were put in place. These measures were understandable in an era of crisis and scientific uncertainty. But 40 years have passed since then, and yet today there are still ridiculous regulations on blood donations.
In 2020 to be exact, the FDA – the government agency part of the US Department of Health and Human Services – called for changes to existing health regulations. This could really have been an opportunity to make progress, but unfortunately, the changes have only proved otherwise: gay and bisexual people, who have always been excluded from donating blood, have been required to be celibate for at least three months before donating. This new policy makes no sense and has no scientific basis. It merely demonstrates the partiality and idiocy of the system that condemns certain sexual orientations and perpetuates years of stigma.
This is why Blood Equality‘s “Dumb Law Paradox”, an advertising campaign by FCB Health, was created to expose the ignorance and absurdity of the old and evil rules in place today.

To expose this law, Blood Equality brought together the 18 dumbest laws in the US and compared them directly to FDA policy in an unprecedented publicity campaign. What was discovered was incredible: each of the 18 laws, despite looking silly on the surface, had a better reason to exist when compared to the FDA’s policy.

Blood Equality thus turned its findings into a series of informative press announcements summarising each law in a short sentence. With a meme-like structure, “Dumb Law Paradox” creates disambiguation in the reader’s mind and brings the paradox of laws into the public eye.

See the campaign here and share it with everyone.

– Read also: “No More Matildas”, the new AMIT awareness campaign