A seemingly anti-vax campaign has gone viral after it turned out to be a very clever pro-vax stunt instead.
Over the weekend, a black truck was photographed in Charlotte in North Carolina bearing the ominous message: “Don’t get vaccinated.”
But what made the ad so great was that it was sponsored by the “Wilmore Funeral Home”. You get the connection?
The mobile billboard was seen repeatedly circling the city’s Bank of America Stadium on Sunday where local gridiron team the Carolina Panthers were taking on rivals the New Orleans Saints.
@RexChapman @davenewworld_2 This truck is making laps around Bank of America Stadium before the Panthers game in Charlotte. pic.twitter.com/rIW9OTltK5
— d (@yourgeniushands) September 19, 2021
The clever stunt was the work of local creative agency Boone Oakley. According to reports, less than half of local residents in Charlotte have been vaccinated, while COVID cases are again spiralling and causing major headaches for health officials.
Even the “Wilmore Funeral Home” is fictitious. If you click on the advertised website, it takes you to a landing page encouraging people to get vaccinated at local StarMed Health Clinics.
Y’all know I love a good marketing tactic. This is a good one. 😂@JoeBrunoWSOC9 pic.twitter.com/gUAFUuEZCS
— Katie Guenther (@ktguen) September 19, 2021
Speaking to Newsweek on the stunt, Boone Oakley president, David Oakley, said that “almost everyone here [at Boone Oakley] got their vaccines at StarMed,” which piqued the agency’s interest in promoting the vax centres.
He added: “A lot of pro-vaccine advertising is very straightforward. We thought, ‘Is there a way to turn it around and do it from a different perspective?’”
Oakley said that while the stunt could’ve easily backfired, if it made just one person get vaccinated then it will have been worth it.
