Man behind 1980s 'Grim Reaper' AIDS adverts says Australia needs a similar approach to 'shock' the vaccine hesitant into getting the jab

A man behind the 1980s 'Grim Reaper' AIDS campaign has called for a similar approach to 'shock' those hesitant to get the vaccine into getting the jab.

Simon Reynolds created the famous 1987 ad warning Australians about the grave dangers of HIV and AIDS.

Mr Reynolds co-founded Photon Group - now known as Enero - the agency behind the Morrison Government's vaccine rollout campaign.

He said it was 'crazy' the government hadn't drilled in to Australians the importance and urgency of getting vaccinated against Covid.

Mr Reynolds said Australians needed to be scared into getting the vaccine as soon as possible rather than waiting.

Simon Reynolds said it's 'crazy' the government hasn't drilled in to Australians the importance and urgency of getting vaccinated against Covid

'I would definitely do – maybe not the Grim Reaper – but I would definitely do a hardcore version to wake people up that this thing could easily be around for another year, could be around for another two,' he told Mumbrella. 

Mr Reynolds said the government's Covid rollout campaign hasn't been successful as it failed to inform and persuade.

'The problem with the government advertising now, it that it's only informing. It's only making statements. It's not tugging the heart in any way,' he said.

It's not affecting us emotionally. It's not particularly persuading in any way other than someone reading off an autocue.'

Mr Reynolds said like with AIDS in the 1980s, many Australians don't know anyone who had Covid, causing complacency.

'How many people actually know someone who's got COVID in Australia? Not many. As a result of that, everybody's just not believing that it's going to be particularly a problem for them,' he said.

Simon Reynolds, creator of the 1987 'Grim Reaper' commercial about the dangers of AIDS, says the federal government needs to adopt similar tactics to raise awareness of how to combat coronavirus

In the Grim Reaper AIDS awareness television commercial men, women, and children were portrayed as human pins lined up to be struck down by a giant bowling ball

Mr Reynolds called for similar shock ads for Covid in Australia in the early days of the pandemic in March last year.

As he does now, he believed Australians were not taking the pandemic seriously enough and needed a blunt message.

'You have to be blunt, simple and dramatic if you want to change Australians' minds and hearts about Covid-19,' Mr Reynolds told Daily Mail Australia at the time.

'We must hammer home the key messages again and again, and paid media advertising is the most effective way of doing that.

'There should be a major ad campaign in digital media, online, newspapers, radio and TV - every single day.'

Most of the official information the Australian public is receiving about coronavirus comes from long, sometimes confusing press conferences staged by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the leaders of states and territories.

A row of Grim Reapers lines up along bowling alleys ready to kill AIDS victims with giant balls. In the Simon Reynolds TV commercial men, women and children were killed indiscriminately

Lifeless bodies are strewn over a bowling alley after being knocked down by the Grim Reaper in the controversial television commercial created by Simon Reynolds

This has not changed in the past 15 months and the messages are not being heard or are being ignored by large segments of the community.

'The only way a whole country can get the message is through short, sharp ads,' Mr Reynolds said. 'Not long press conferences and press releases.'

'Many people, particularly younger Australians, are not even seeing the government press announcements. It's not enough.

'They need to be woken up with a slap in the face that only powerful advertising can do.' 

Mr Reynolds has previously admitted his AIDS campaign, which was shot for just $300,000 and 'broke a lot of rules', was controversial but said it succeeded. 

He likened the current awareness of coronavirus to that of HIV in the mid-1980s, when there was a perception the only people vulnerable to that virus were gay men and intravenous drug users.

'It is similar to the original AIDS situation because a section of the population are not taking coronavirus seriously, and others aren't sure how to protect themselves from it,' he said. 

'At first, only gays and IV drug users were being killed by AIDS,' said actor John Stanton in the Grim Reaper commercial. 'But now we know every one of us could be devastated by it' 

Simon Reynolds (pictured with TV host Kathryn Eisman in 2017) created the famous 1987 advert warning Australians about the grave dangers of HIV and AIDS

Mr Reynolds said it was vital the community received its information from one source, selling the same message, every day. 

'If we rely solely on ever changing daily government messages the confusion and misinformation will remain,' he said. 

This situation has remained, with state premiers and the federal government giving separate, often conflicting, advice on Covid and now the vaccine. 

The Morrison Government is this week under more pressure over its vaccine rollout after state leaders warned against younger people taking the AstraZeneca shot.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said any adult can now receive the jab once they talk to their GP about the risks of extremely rare blood clots.

But some state premiers and chief health officers warned against ignoring advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.

It is not recommended for people under 60 to receive AstraZeneca, with Pfizer the preferred vaccine for that age group.

Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid said the federal-state spilt caused confusion.

'Unfortunately the prime minister's thrown a little bit of a hand grenade into our vaccine program,' he told Sky News.

The federal government provided doctors with legal protection to vaccinate adults of all ages, sparking a rush of younger people keen to have any vaccine.

Hundreds of people are lining up to get Covid vaccinations, but the rollout is still months behind schedule and many people are hesitant to get the jab

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said she did not want people under 40 to receive the jab.

'I don't want an 18-year-old in Queensland dying from a clotting illness who, if they got Covid probably wouldn't die,' she said.

Victorian Health Minster Martin Foley said the health department received confirmation of a change in commonwealth policy to expand the vaccine rollout.

'The last thing we need is confusion around vaccines. What we need is certainty and consistency and confidence in the vaccination program,' he said.

WA Premier Mark McGowan also wants people in his state to follow ATAGI's medical advice.

'That is the advice we have and that is the national advice from the immunisation experts,' he said.

'Clearly, the commonwealth has taken a different approach.'

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said there was no disagreement on the medical advice despite states discouraging under-40s from taking AstraZeneca.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said there was no disagreement on the medical advice despite states discouraging under-40s from taking AstraZeneca

Mr Morrison announced on Monday GPs would be granted indemnity to administer the jab.

'If you wish to get the AstraZeneca vaccine, then we would encourage you to go and have that discussion with your GP,' he said.

South Australia avoided going into immediate lockdown but reinstated restrictions after recording five local cases linked to a returned mine worker.

But the NT extended its lockdown to Alice Springs because the man and his four family members spent seven hours at the airport before returning to Adelaide.

NSW recorded 22 new local coronavirus cases with Sydney and major regional centres remaining in lockdown.

There were three new cases in Queensland where the southeast of the state, Townsville, and two nearby islands are also locked down.

WA recorded one new infection on the first day of Perth and the Peel region's four-day lockdown.

Grim: 'At first, only gays and IV drug users were being killed by AIDS' 

The controversial 'Grim Reaper' controversial campaign was axed after nine weeks

The Grim Reaper advertisement created by Simon Reynolds was part of a $3million National Advisory Committee on AIDS education campaign and first screened on April 5, 1987.

The ad opens with a bell tolling as ten men, women and children are lined up as 'human pins' at a bowling alley, waiting to be knocked to their deaths by a Grim Reaper armed with a giant bowling ball.

'At first, only gays and IV drug users were being killed by AIDS,' actor John Stanton intones darkly in a voiceover.

'But now we know every one of us could be devastated by it. The fact is, over 50,000 men, women and children now carry the AIDS virus - that in three years, nearly 2,000 of us will be dead.

'But if not stopped, it could kill more Australians than World War II.'

The first 10 supposed AIDS carriers are all killed and the Grim Reaper turns a scythe in his hand.

He then lines up to bowl again after the dead bodies have been cleared away and a second group of victims is set down.

After that bowl a mother is left standing holding an infant child. A third bowl knocks down the mother and the child spins through the air as the Reaper raises his left arm in triumph.  

The camera then pans across to show an entire row of Grim Reapers killing people, each sending a ball down his own bowling alley. 

'But AIDS can be stopped, and you can help stop it. If you have sex, have just one safe partner - or always use condoms. Always.' the commercial ends.

A message then appears across the screen: 'AIDS. PREVENTION IS THE ONLY CURE WE'VE GOT.'

The campaign, which was scheduled to run across national televisions for three months, was axed after nine weeks.