Syphilis Ad - Ethos

        The widespread use of propaganda in the 1950s used to promote syphilis prevention was a major factor in launching the modern sexual era. The American public listened to these messages and took action because they were coming from educated and powerful sources. The style of many of these advertisements was riddled with many double meanings. The advertisement to the right, along with many others, is how soldiers were warned of women who were "booby traps" both with their physical appearances and the diseases they carried. The double meaning utilized by the illustrator was meant to reach the audience in a multi-faceted way, in order to make the argument stronger and create an urgency to be treated with penicillin.
        The overwhelming urgency created by the U.S. government to put an end to the spread of STDs was inconvenient to many because it meant restricting their sexual behavior. When the rapid decline in syphilis became a reality in the 1950s thanks to penicillin, the modern sexual era was launched. Penicillin drove down the cost of having risky sex, so the population started having more of it. Thinking of it economically, sexual behavior responds to incentives just like other behaviors.