The pandemic will continue as a serious problem unless a significant number of unvaccinated people are persuaded to get the shot. That puts communications at the center of public policy.
A dangerous fourth wave of infections is filling hospital wards because a sizeable minority of Americans are refusing to get vaccinated. Authorities are casting about to figure out how best to convince the holdouts to change their minds.
Full approval of the Pfizer vaccine by the Food and Drug Administration has helped. But more needs to be done.
At the heart of their challenge is a daunting fact. Many Americans don’t trust the “establishment,” a word that encompasses many things including experts, government officials and the media. When these sources urge compliance, a lot of people reflexively refuse.
People don’t like being told what to do. That puts a premium on more personalized, localized forms of persuasion. As a result, good old-fashioned billboards have been increasingly a vehicle of choice.
The billboard industry, also known as the out-home advertising industry, has been tapped since the start of the pandemic to reach deeply yet gently into neighborhoods filled with people who aren’t eager to take government advice. These range from minority communities to citizens with strong libertarian leanings.
Since COVID-19 took hold, government entities targeted these groups by buying billboards that featured familiar faces, celebrities, and public-health leaders. The campaigns clearly worked because they have proliferated ever since. States and localities are now using the same tactics to break through and get more people to roll up their sleeves.
The City of Detroit bought billboards to promote a local phone number that residents could call to find out where to find the vaccine. New York health authorities bought multi-lingual ads on digital billboards in city subway stations to urge people to take the shot. One featured a masked silhouette of the Statue of Liberty with the caption: “Let’s take back our city. One vaccination at a time.” Another presented the vaccines as “Safe. Effective. Free.”
An AIDS Foundation in Philadelphia thought COVID vaccinations were important enough to purchase a prominently located billboard that read: “Did your part?” and gave a website address where people could find more information.
The District of Columbia’s health department bought screens in the Washington subway system called Metro. “Let’s end this pandemic together,” one set of monitors read. These featured the smiling face of a woman identified as Juanita from Ward 5. Georgia’s health department zeroed in on healthcare workers, fire fighters and other first responders with vaccine billboards.
A Milwaukee coalition called HealthyMKE launched a multi-media campaign called “Authentic Voices,” which ran a dozen versions on local billboards. One pictured a local man wearing a Veterans of Foreign Wars hat. A second billboard featured a local pastor with the words, “Show your faith.” These were bolstered by door-to-door canvassing.
Private entities are also advertising vaccinations on billboards. Houston Methodist Hospital bought a billboard that said simply, “We stand behind the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Billboards and other out of home media formats are tailor-made for localization of messages. And they have worked for a long time as a result. After the 9-11 terrorists' attacks, for example, the first Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge put his "Ready" campaign on billboards to reach Main Street America.
U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-South Carolina) specifically recommended out of home media for public-health messaging during an Out of Home Media Conference in May. “I strongly urge any jurisdiction that is trying to get their message out to utilize outdoor advertising,” he said. “I feel very strongly that (out of home media) will be a very efficient and effective use of our resources.”
A lot is at stake. More people need to get vaccinated to control COVID-19. Billboards are local and familiar enough to be persuasive. The out-of-home industry is proud to be part of the solution.
Anna Bager is president and CEO of the Out of Home Advertising Association of America.