The Isle of Wight was one of the first places in England to integrate sexual and reproductive health services. Prior to this, medical appointments for issues such as contraception and STD testing would have been provided separately from each other, for example. The island also had a culture of innovative public health campaigns, such as anti-smoking, suicide awareness and healthy eating.
The Captain Condom campaign was created by the island’s Genital, Urinary Medicine department in the 1990s. Funding had been provided for HIV prevention, which focused on encouraging testing and the use of condoms. The Isle of Wight had the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the UK at the time, and so the contraceptive use of condoms was promoted alongside protection from HIV, AIDS and STIs.

It’s important to understand the context of social attitudes towards HIV/AIDS and the LGBTQ+ community during this period. HIV/AIDS remained a taboo topic due to fear, ignorance, and the belief that it only affected gay men. The Isle of Wight’s distance from the mainland and its close-knit ‘island nature’ led one campaigner to claim that attitudes regarding the LGBTQ+ community were ‘decades’ behind that of the mainland, especially cities.
Even among healthcare workers on the island, the true number of people being tested or diagnosed with HIV/AIDS was unclear due to social stigma and secrecy. As a lot of LGBTQ+ socialising took place off the island, one campaigner has even theorised that patients may have travelled to the mainland for testing to avoid scrutiny.
The design of the Captain Condom campaign is visibly distinct from early HIV/AIDS campaigns, such as the UK’s memorable and fear-inducing tombstone adverts of 1987. The idea of combatting the stigma of these campaigns with a superhero was first seen in Australia, in the form of Condoman. This was aimed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and remains a popular mascot in Australia.
By coincidence, Captain Condom employed the same approach: it used humour and bright colours to make the subject more accessible, in particular to young people – the logo itself was created in collaboration with local students. The promotional materials included foldable paper hats, carrier bags, beer mats, stickers, leaflets, posters, badges and mugs. They all had the same pink and blue logo with the slogan ‘Captain Condom says cover up!’

The campaign endeavoured to encourage safer behaviour, rather than creating further fear and stigma, The objects were used to normalise discussions of HIV/AIDS and safe sex, and to encourage people to use the island’s sexual health services. In particular, campaign stickers were often put on condom machines in public toilets.
The carrier bag was used during the campaign’s public launch at ‘Cowes Week’, a major international sailing event that takes place on the island. As seen in the below photographs, ‘holiday health packs’ containing promotional materials such as hats and badges, educational leaflets and condoms were given out to yachts during the event. When criticised by staff on the marina, campaigners pointed out that the island experienced an annual high birth rate nine months after Cowes Week.
The campaign’s volunteers that day included the newsreader, Kenneth Kendall. He had been the first BBC newsreader to appear on camera, and also had cameos in TV and films such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, Doctor Who and 2001: A Space Odyssey. His participation in the Captain Condom campaign drew media attention.

Kenneth took the opportunity to praise the use of a light-hearted approach to tackle a serious topic, and also addressed the incorrect belief that HIV/AIDS exclusively affected gay men. Kenneth himself had been with his partner Mark for three years at this point, but remained largely closeted.
Among the photos from the day is one of a sailor in a yellow t-shirt who received one of the holiday health packs. A humorous note on the back of the photo remarks that his shocked expression was because he was ‘disappointed there were only two condoms’ inside the bag.

These bags also included general health information, such as nutrition advice and alcohol awareness, in order not to alienate attendees. The photo in the bottom right is Kay Marriott, one of the campaign creators and the donor of the objects to the Science Museum Group Collection.
In other photos you can see the Captain Condom roadshow, with the Island’s Director of Public Health, and district HIV Prevention Coordinator. These show display stands which included information on the topics of safer sex, drugs, and alcohol. These photos demonstrate the way the campaign actively reached out to educate the community and reduce stigma.

The Isle of Wight’s LGBTQ+ history has been highlighted over the past few years. In 2021 the critically acclaimed TV show It’s A Sin followed the AIDS crisis through the eyes of a young gay man moving from his sheltered life on the Isle of Wight to London. One of the Captain Condom campaigners provided inspiration and information for this story, and confirms that it is an accurate representation of the time.
The heritage project ‘Out On An Island’ has also worked to uncover, preserve and celebrate LGBTQ+ stories: they have recorded oral histories from residents, released a documentary, and last year launched a book. One of the stories recorded is by Karl Love, who was previously a sexual health worker and Captain Condom campaigner, and in May 2024 was elected Isle of Wight Council Chairman.
For those interested in related objects on display, the Science Museum has one of the original ‘Don’t Die of Ignorance’ campaign leaflets in Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries and in Making the Modern World there is Billy, the ‘world’s first out and proud gay doll’ which was originally designed as a sculpture for an AIDS benefit event.