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MEET JULIO, Latin Lover with a Problem. No, we're not talking impotence, performance anxiety or any other form of sexual dysfunction. We're talking attitude problem. Serious attitude problem.
When Julio's feeling amorous, you see, the idea of slipping on a condom doesn't seem very glamorous. On the contrary, macho man Julio finds it downright insulting. So insulting, in fact, that he stormed out of his girlfriend Marisol's apartment for even suggesting the idea - hardly anyone's idea of responsible behavior in this, the Age of AIDS.
"There's no mistaking Julio," said Ann Sternberg of the New York City Department of Health. "He's selfish, irritable and a totally obnoxious human being."
She ought to know. Along with a team of AIDS educators from her agency, Sternberg created him. For all the world to see. On the subway.
Which is where millions of New Yorkers have already met Julio and Marisol. You could say they live in the subways, in fact - on a piece of cardboard right next to Dr. Tusch.
Julio and Marisol are fictional characters starring in an interactive public-health campaign that just might be the world's first "strap opera." But if the campaign's message is delivered in a manner resembling a cartoon strip, that doesn't mean the message...