• by Larissa Faw , March 16, 2021

The AdTechCares coalition, which now includes more than 50 companies spanning demand-side platforms, supply-side platforms, agencies and data providers, is joining forces with Veterans Coalition for Vaccination (VCV) and Venables Bell + Partners (VB+P) to encourage Americans to get vaccinated because “better times are within arms reach.”

The creative takes inspiration from the style and messaging of iconic home-front posters — such as Rosie the Riveter and Smokey the Bear — to serve as a call-to-action to get the treatment.

The ads all end with a simple and direct call-to-action: “Don’t wait. Vaccinate.”

VB+P worked with photographer Jim Hughes to shoot a wide range of masked people for the imagery. Some models are veterans while others are volunteers from Team Rubicon, a group founded by U.S. Marines to serve as first responders to disasters. Alice Blue Production Studio artists Lena Pigareva and David Waraksa then hand painted the images and created the typography to give them a vintage poster look.

“We felt the messaging needed to be welcoming and optimistic, but also feel big, and really tap into people’s sense of duty to a larger cause, something the Veterans Coalition is very familiar with,” says Tyler Hampton, creative director, VB+P. “We couldn’t help but be inspired by the ‘in this together’ messaging and design that harkens back to World War II.”

Although there are several vaccine trust campaigns promoting the return to normalcy, this one takes a different approach by instilling a sense of shared duty. The campaign is driven by the VCV, which is a group of veterans service organizations being brought together and underlined (with ad impressions/serving) by the technology partners in the AdTechCares coalition, with creative support by VB+P.

It is also fueled with donated media from Ad Council partners.

As part of the biggest push in the history of the Ad Council and AdTechCares, mass market messaging will appear across broadcast, digital, social, video and Times Square out-of-home.