Ad Council Debuts Massive Vaccine Campaign to Quell Concerns and Answer Questions

With a heavy focus on communities that have been disproportionately affected

 

Various Covid-19 vaccines are here, and people have concerns, opinions and questions.

To educate Americans about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines that are currently available, the Ad Council is debuting a massive campaign. The aim is to convince people to become inoculated against the virus, which has killed more than 500,000 people in the U.S.

It’s rolling out the push in partnership with Covid Collaborative, a national coalition created to fight the pandemic, which is chaired by former Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. Additionally, the Ad Council said it worked closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure all messaging is “rigorously vetted and backed by science.”

Much of the campaign focuses on reaching Black and Latinx people, who’ve been disproportionately impacted by Covid-19. According to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, Black people are 1.9 times more likely to die from Covid-19 than white people, while Hispanic and Latinx individuals are 2.3 times more likely.

Even as the vaccine rolls out across the U.S., skepticism and concerns remain, which the Ad Council hopes to address. Much of this reluctance can be attributed to healthcare disparities between white Americans and minorities, which has led to a general distrust in medicine among the latter.

According to research released by Pew in December, 21% of U.S. adults do not plan to get vaccinated and are “pretty certain” more information will not change their mind. Black communities in particular are wary of the vaccine. According to research conducted by the NAACP and a handful of other partners last year, only 14% of Black Americans “mostly or completely” trust that a vaccine will be safe.

The aforementioned Pew survey found that white Americans are more likely to say they have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists than their Black and Hispanic counterparts.

A group effort

While the Ad Council is spearheading the campaign, it involves participation from hundreds of brands, organizations and individuals, all of which are helping get the word out in various ways.

The Ad Council enlisted the help of several agencies to bring the campaign—dubbed “It’s Up to You”—to life. Dentsu Health worked pro bono to develop consumer insights and the initiative’s national media strategy, “informing creative development and providing a comprehensive placement framework for the creative assets,” the Ad Council said.

Read more on Adweek here.