icap global health

DO IT… NEW YORK - Do It… New York was a bold public health campaign created to boost participation in an mpox (formerly monkeypox) study led by Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health (iCAP). After a 2022 outbreak that disproportionately impacted New York’s LGBTQ+ community—particularly trans, non-binary individuals, and men who have sex with men—we needed a way to cut through stigma and spark action. Launched during NYC’s Pride Parade, the campaign used playful innuendo and cheeky, high-visibility tactics to grab attention and drive engagement.

From posters, social posts and beer coasters in bars to branded condom wrappers and enamel pins, we encouraged at-risk New Yorkers to “do it”—with strangers, in groups, across the city. And by “do it,” of course, we meant join the study.

Fun, provocative, and impossible to ignore, the campaign helped drive real conversations and vital participation in the fight to stop the spread.

A colorful collection of posters with different messages and instructions, each in a different color, related to various activities or scenarios.

Colorful circular buttons with statements about achievements at different locations or with different people, including a red button saying "I DID IT BECAUSE IT FELT GOOD," an orange button's text is partially obscured, a blue button saying "I DID IT AFTER THE NIGHT AT THE EAGLE," a green button saying "I DID IT AND IT DIDN'T HURT A BIT," a purple button saying "I DID IT WITH MY BARTENDER," and a brown button saying "I DID IT IN FRONT OF A CROWD."

Person wearing a denim shirt with a purple button badge that reads 'I DID IT WITH MY BARTENDER.'

Set of six social media posts with bold text and colorful backgrounds, encouraging safe behaviors after Pride parades, including not to smoke, use blood, or flip the bird, with the first post emphasizing "Do It After the Parade" in green.

Hand holding a smartphone displaying a message to help keep MPPX out of New York, with logos of DC Black Pride, It Gets Better NY, and Icap at the bottom of the screen.

Colorful condom wrappers with messages promoting safe and responsible behavior like 'Do it because it feels good,' 'Do it in heels,' 'Do it with a stranger,' 'Do it in public,' and 'Do it with your bottom.' There is also a purple wrapper with a QR code and text encouraging to join the study to help keep monkeypox out of New York.

Two glasses of amber beer on wooden table with circular posters promoting the importance of vaccination and community health, including a QR code and message about mumps.

Colorful posters on a wall with messages encouraging doing good deeds, each starting with 'Do It' and varying in phrases like for the first time, with a daddy, in public, all by yourself, with your bottom, with your eyes closed, in heels, in a new York minute, in hell's kitchen, with a group, because it feels good, with your whole building, after the tea at the end.

press

Image of pink and blue banners hanging on a street with trees, promoting an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign with the slogan 'Do It All By Yourself'. A woman holding smaller 'Do It' cards, smiling. Article headline about ICAP launching a study on the prevalence of Mpox in New York City, dated August 29, 2023.