Under the slogan “It’s Up to You,” a public service ad campaign unveiled Thursday will seek to convince Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The Ad Council and its partners’ campaign is focused on those who might have concerns about getting vaccinated. One of the print ads says “Back to Hugs Starts With Being Informed” and directs readers to a website with vaccine information in seven languages.
“Our goal is to move them from hesitation to confidence” in vaccines, said Lisa Sherman, president of the Ad Council.
As many as one in three Americans say they are sure or likely not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a recent survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Some scientists estimate that it will take more than two in three Americans to get vaccinated to curb a virus that has killed more than 500,000 people in the country alone.
The large national campaign includes a series of English and Spanish television commercials, billboards, bus stops, social media and publications, which will be launched in the coming months. Some of those ads are expected to feature celebrities like actors Angela Bassett and John Leguizamo, CNN doctor Sanjay Gupta, and the government’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The announcements are expected to run throughout the year.
The campaign also includes materials specifically targeted at church leaders, doctors, pharmacists, and others in the Black and Hispanic communities.
The initiative was funded by $ 52 million in donations – in addition to donated labor and other resources, Sherman noted. The group, which is backed by the advertising industry, said this is one of the largest educational campaigns in the country’s history. The entity is known for many iconic public service campaigns such as “The Hardest Job You’ll Ever Love” for the United States Peace Corps.
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The Associated Press receives support for its health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The Associated Press is solely responsible for the content.
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