• by Les Luchter , October 17, 2022

The number of flu cases in the U.S. could rise considerably this season, according to health experts. Some of the reasons for this prediction: mass mask-wearing and social distancing are in the past, people have lower levels of immunity due to relatively mild seasons the past two years, and parts of the southern hemisphere experienced significant increases this year during their flu seasons.

“On a positive note, we have more preventive behaviors in our toolbox than we did before the COVID-19 pandemic. We are more accustomed to wearing masks and staying home when sick,” William Schaffner, MD, medical director ofthe National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), told a recent press conference.

Indeed, in an NFID survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, 58% of respondents reported that they plan to mask up at least some times during flu season.

But, when it comes to what health officials consider the most effective tool against flu -- the annual vaccination -- only 49% of respondents plan to get shots this year. That’s pretty close to the 51% that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say normally get vaccinated.

Several players are trying to up those numbers via marketing campaigns.

The CDC, for one, offers free “Help Them Fight Flu” digital ad materials designed to encourage parents to get young children vaccinated.

The CDC is also continuing its annual collaboration with the American Medical Association and the Ad Council to motivate the public.

Ads, created by fluent360, are offered in TV (“Don’t Get Flu FOMO” and ”No Time for Flu”) print, radio, social media, out-of-home and digital formats.

Another campaign, “Not Today, Flu,” comes from the American Nurses Association (ANA), with financial help from flu vaccine marketer Sanofi, although the campaign itself is unbranded.

Actor Jason Alexander is the face of the Weber Shandwick campaign, which includes on a social media video and TV interviews. In the humorous video, Alexander undergoes some of “life’s little disasters” that he can’t get immunized against, such as a pigeon pooping in his hat and a stinky refrigerator, concluding that protection “doesn’t have to be supernatural” because “a flu shot can help prevent nasty complications…like pneumonia, heart attack and stroke.”

The ANA had teamed up with Sanofi on a similar campaign, starring actor Jennifer Grey, last year.

All these campaigns have a similar goal: to motivate people to get vaccinated.

So how about a reward for doing just that? In particular, how about “Snax for Vax”?

That’s the name of the giveaway taking place the weekend of October 22-23 at 700 locations of the Vitamin Shoppe and Super Supplements retail chains.

Anyone showing proof of receiving a flu shot can get protein bars and other items from such companies as AP Regimen, Fulfil, Garden of Life, Jacked Factory, Legendary Foods and On.

The stores ran a similar Snax for Vax incentive in a 2021 partnership with the White House, giving out their freebies to those who had gotten COVID-19 vaccines.