The MTV Staying Alive Foundation and MTV Base have revealed that they are creating a new season of Shuga. The award-winning sex and relationships drama and multimedia campaign, now in its fourth season, will kick off in Nigeria in early 2015, in partnership with NACA, PEPFAR, and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Targeted at Nigerian youth, the multi-layered MTV Shuga campaign will include a six part TV series, a radio drama, an MTV Shuga comic book, and intense digital and social media engagement. A new focus for 2015 will be an increased emphasis on promoting HIV testing, in partnership with the Elton John AIDS Foundation, with the goal of encouraging 25,000 youth to get tested, motivated by a series of special MTV Shuga on Tour festivals held nationwide in March 2015. The campaign will also include a peer-to-peer education drive that uses the MTV Shuga TV programme as a tool for stimulating dialogue about, and changing attitudes to, prevalent public health issues.
Fusing sexual and other public health messaging with world class storytelling and relatable characters, the new series of MTV Shuga will focus on a range of themes relevant to young Nigerians, including adolescent girls, stigma, prevention of mother-to child transmission (PMTCT), HIV testing and 6222 (NACA helpline), gender based violence, first sex, and disclosure of HIV.
Commented Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa, “MTV Shuga is a powerful series that addresses issues that are important to everyone. We are very proud to bring another season of this high quality drama to Nigeria, which will not only encompass incredible on-screen storytelling but also engaging event activations designed to heighten its impact”.
Georgia Arnold, Executive Director, MTV Staying Alive Foundation said, “We are excited to build on the global impact of Shuga series 3, which aired to more than 550 million households in Africa, Europe, UK, USA, Asia and the Caribbean via a total of 88 TV broadcasters including 44 African broadcasters. We look forward to extending the incredible reach and resonance with this new series and multimedia campaign, leveraging the power of Shuga to connect with youth audiences on topics vital for their health and well-being.”
The global TVpremiere of MTV Shuga will take place on MTV Base (DStv Channel 322) in June 2015.
Source: MTV Base
