INMATES RECAPTURED
Recaptured inmates are led by police outside the Croix-des-bouquets Civil Prison after an attempted breakout Thursday in Port-au-prince, Haiti. At least seven people were killed Thursday after several inmates tried to escape from the prison, eyewitnesses told The Associated Press.
Prepare for an onslaught of ads reminding us of all the things we miss about life before the pandemic – hugs, going to church, family gatherings and hanging with friends – and information about how COVID-19 vaccines can bring them back.
The ad campaign from The Ad Council will include more than $500 million in donated media and talent. It launched Thursday and will slowly change as the landscape of who’s eligible for a vaccine and what questions they have shifts.
“We’re dealing with the biggest issues of our lifetime,” said the Ad Council’s president and CEO, Lisa Sherman. “We recognized pretty quickly that unless people could learn more about the vaccine and get educated, they may not take them. And then we wouldn’t be any better off next year than we are this year.”
The ads are aimed at the 40% of Americans who haven’t yet made up their minds about getting vaccinated, Sherman said. The Ad Council focused on in-depth focus groups and surveys to understand what questions people had and what their worries were.
The result is a website, getvaccineanswers.org, that gives a simple message: Having questions is good; it’s normal to be cautious when something new comes along. Answers are available.
The ads, which will appear on TV, radio and online, tug on the heartstrings. They feature images of people holding hands, families at a child’s birthday party, people walking into church together or friends sharing pizza, a reminder of how much things have changed in a year.
The tagline to all is, “It’s up to you.” Not to get vaccinated, but to get informed, Sherman said.
“The ads strike a positive and engaging tone, one that’s not mandating, but inviting them into the process of getting the facts from a trusted source,” she said.
The Ad Council is a nonprofit that creates and distributes public service announcements. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services provided scientific guidance.
Some of the ads will be seen broadly on television, but they will be especially focused on communities with high levels of vaccine hesitancy, especially Hispanic and Black communities. That will include campaigns that are credible and culturally relevant. The overall message is the same, but it might be presented slightly differently.
“For the Hispanic population, there’s more of an emotive angle,” said Charysse Nunez, insights lead for the Ad Council’s COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative.
“We knew there were many people who hadn’t had the opportunity that to visit their family, and so that’s something they miss.”
For the Black community, images of family reunions, going to church and graduations resonated.
The benefits will become apparent as more people see that vaccination contributes to fewer hospitalizations and as people are able to return to schools and a more normal daily life, said Glen Nowak, director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication at the University of Georgia.