• by Les Luchter , August 30, 2024

If you're not motivated to get a COVID-19 vaccine for yourself, get one so your loved ones -- and even your pets -- won’t be all alone.

That’s the message of Moderna’s “Do it for you and them” campaign, launching a week after the Food and Drug Administration approved both Moderna’s and Pfizer’s updated COVID vaccines, which now also target the Omicron variant KP.2 strain.

“If you get sick with COVID-19, someone will feel all alone. Get an updated vaccine this season so you don’t let down the ones who matter most,” says the voiceover of a :30 spot as the visual shows a sad-looking man bicycling by himself and then a sad-looking woman dining by herself in a restaurant.

“Last fall, more people were hospitalized from COVID than the flu,” the VO continues, as a sad-looking dog gazes out a living room window.

Then, as the woman is shown riding a tandem bicycle with her loved one, and the dog running to greet its master at the door: “COVID is always changing. Protect yourself this season with an updated vaccine. Do it for you and them.”

Moderna says the campaign is running across linear TV, connected TV and socials media, and that it’s also “partnering with key retailers to amplify its message through their advertising networks, driving both in-store and online engagement.”

“By focusing on the emotional impact of vaccination, we hope to inspire individuals to take action and be there for their loved ones by staying up to date on their vaccines,” Kate Cronin, Moderna’s chief brand officer, said in announcing the campaign.

“Do it for you and them” content directs users to “schedule a vaccine today” by visiting a new COVIDeducation website ForYouAndThem.com. where a vaccine locator will take users to local pharmacy sites. Like Pfizer’s PfizerForAll.com, launched earlier in the week, this tool allows scheduling of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The Moderna campaign comes on the heels of the Department of Health and Human Services launching its own vaccine promotion campaign, not only for COVID, but for the flu and RSV.

The new campaigns start amidst a summer surge in COVID infections as well as an Annenberg Public Policy Center report finding that Americans’ willingness to vaccinate has declined as they increasingly accept COVID misinformation as being true.

As of July, an Annenberg survey of nearly 2,500 adults found:

• Over a quarter (28%) incorrectly believe that COVID vaccines have been responsible for thousands of deaths, up from 22% in June 2021. The percentage who know this is false has declined to 55% from 66%
• Over one in five Americans (22%) believe that it is safer to get COVID than to get vaccinated, up from 10% in April 2021.
• The number of Americans who incorrectly believe that the COVID  vaccine changes people’s DNA nearly doubled to 15%, from 8% in April 2021.

At the same time as the Annenberg’s Center study about COVID misinformation was being released, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg was accusing the Biden administration of censoring COVID posts on his platforms when it attempted to combat such misinformation in 2021.