Gilead is grooving to a new rhythm with its “Ahorita Mismo!” (Right Now!) campaign. Through a partnership with leading Spanish-language media company TelevisaUnivision, the targeted HIV prevention push will have a presence at the star-studded 27th Annual Latin Grammy Awards Nov. 12.
“Ahorita Mismo” is Gilead’s Latino-focused offshoot of its Care for the Culture HIV prevention initiative and first launched around National Latino AIDS Awareness Day last month. The campaign looks to bring HIV prevention and testing into the conversation by destigmatizing the topic and making resources more accessible and culturally relevant for Latino and Hispanic communities in the U.S.
In 2024, Hispanic and Latino people were 67% more likely than the U.S. population overall to be diagnosed with HIV, marking a diagnosis rate of 18.9 per 100,000 people compared to 11.3 per 100,000 overall, Gilead said in a Thursday press release.
To spread the word, the company is jumping in on the biggest Latin music moment of the year, bringing HIV prevention topics to the awards show and TelevisaUnivision's programming.
At the Latin Grammys, Gilead and “Ahorita Mismo” will be active on the red carpet and social media, boosting HIV awareness through celebrity interviews and a broader red carpet presence. The top morning talk show for Hispanic communities in the U.S., Univision’s “Despierta America,” will also hold a special segment related to the campaign, while up-and-coming Mexican artist Santi Casas is featured in a “social-first docuseries,” Gilead said.
In Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas and Houston, Gilead and TelevisaUnivision are bringing HIV awareness to communities live and in person, directly connecting people with HIV prevention testing resources at Care for the Culture sponsored watch parties.
“Music and culture have a unique power to connect us, spark conversation and make important health information feel more personal and relevant,” Gilead’s VP of U.S. HIV prevention Ashley Gildea commented. “Through Ahorita Mismo and the Latin Grammy Awards, we can harness that connection to bring HIV prevention into everyday conversations and move closer to our broader ambition: a future where HIV prevention is a routine part of healthcare and everyone feels empowered to make prevention part of caring for their health.”
“Ahorita Mismo” initially launched with a series of videos leaning on trusted voices and culturally significant humor as popular digital creators Eric Sedeño and Boman Martinez-Reid hosted a “1-800-Ahorita” advice show, helping fictional callers with dating-related problems that speak to real-life situations. From being ghosted by a partner in “Ahorita Ghosted” to other tricky situations in "Ahorita Eggplant" and "Ahorita Throuple," each topic came back to HIV testing and prevention options as the duo reminded callers to take care of their sexual health “ahorita mismo.”
Gilead’s wider Care for the Culture initiative takes aim at the disproportionate HIV burden Black and Hispanic communities across the U.S. experience and encourages open dialog about prevention options, reminding its audience that “HIV is not somewhere else. It’s right here,” the website says.
Like the new collab with TelevisaUnivision, previous Care for the Culture efforts have leaned on the power of music, such as when renowned R&B singer TLC’s Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins hopped on a remix of TLC’s 1994 hit “Creep,” called “So We PrEP."
Meanwhile, Gilead’s “Up to Date” campaign looked to spark conversation about HIV prevention within Black communities and ran on streaming services and channels including Tubi, Roku, BET, Urban One and Peacock, where it aired during "The Real Housewives of Atlanta."
The strategic channels helped the company work in the “right spaces that people can actually hear what you’re trying to say,” Deborah Wafer, Gilead’s executive director of public affairs, U.S. advocacy and health equity explained in an interview at the time.
A similar approach to increasing visibility for the target audience of “Ahorita Mismo” will play out as the Latin Grammy Awards air live on Univision and other channels.