The cities Department of Public Health says that the risqué ads, which caused some controversy when they were first introduced in 2002, worked to their advantage and helped reduce the numbers of STD infected gay and bisexual men.
In a recent survey, 40 to 60 percent of men asked say the advertisements encouraged them to get a health check, which has stopped the rising syphilis rates.
Heath department manager of sexually transmitted diseases, Jacqueline McCright, says, "We took a risk, and that risk paid off."
The results of the campaign and the survey are being published in PLoS Medicine magazine.
The authors of the article say, "The social marketing campaign was effective in augmenting syphilis testing and increasing syphilis awareness and knowledge in the San Francisco gay and bisexual community. This effect might have contributed to decreased syphilis incidence in 2005."
The success of the advertising campaign has prompted other cities, such as Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Palm Springs to try a similar tact.
