The last “Saw” movie from the horror franchise was released by Lionsgate in 2010, and if you’re a reader of this blog, you might recall that we shared the ALL the movie’s wild Halloween Blood Drive Posters, a marketing gimmick that proved very successful. This year the Saw movie franchise returns as “Jigsaw” (SAW VIII) opening in theaters on October 27th, and the annual blood drive returns as well. But this time, it’s protesting the restrictions placed on L.G.B.T. blood donors.
Jigsaw Blood Drive Posters
Lionsgate initially came up with the idea for a blood drive in 2004 to generate buzz for the first “Saw” movie. When it proved to be successful, Lionsgate’s Chief brand officer and professional photographer Tim Palen (who shot the posters), organized similar blood drives for the next five movies in the franchise. The blood drives resulted in so many donations — some 120,000 pints — that the American Red Cross gave him an award.
Now that the movie franchise is returning, only this time as Jigsaw, the blood drive encouraging people to donate blood in preparation for the horror film has also returned. Pushing back against the restrictions placed on L.G.B.T. Blood donors, the online ad campaign features posters that oppose the gay donor regulations with transgender diva Amanda Lepore, Sudanese Model Nyakim Gatwech, movie critic Grae Drake, makeup artist Mykie and four other social media stars.
The NY Times reports that the blood drive campaign “… has eight social media stars with large gay, bisexual and transgender fan bases — including Shaun Ross, an openly gay model, and Amanda Lepore, the transgender night life diva — dressed as off-kilter nurses and encouraging people to donate blood in preparation for “Jigsaw.” and continues to explain that ““All Types Welcome” is a condemnation of blood donation rules set by the Food and Drug Administration that prohibit most gay or bisexual men from giving; before donating, they have to forgo same-sex sexual encounters for at least a year, a contentious precaution resulting from concerns about H.I.V.”
Read more about the posters here.