With a little education we can become the number one nation.

The world’s first ‘herpes destigmatisation campaign’ aims to lower the stigma surrounding the virus and raise national pride at the same time. New Zealand’s national pride may be waning—but the solution is obvious: herpes.

In an effort to educate the entire nation and dismantle the stigma, the campaign features local famous people including Sir Ashley Bloomfield, Sir Graham Henry, Sir Buck Shelford, Angella Dravid, and Mea Motu as celebrity presenters in the 'Herpes Destigmatisation Course’—a series of lessons that condense multiple educational resources—often left unread—into accessible, approachable and comedic content.

In addition to the destigmatisation video course, the website also features the Herpes Stigma Index leaderboard that serves to motivate participation in the video course by adding a competitive element with live updates derived from web data. By watching the video course content and engaging with content online, users can reduce their own stigma and help their country gain points to climb the leaderboard.