COVID-19 vaccine ad campaign aimed at hard-hit communities
MILWAUKEE - We frequently hear from health leaders, state and local officials — even the president — about getting the vaccine, but a nearly million-dollar campaign will share community member's vaccine experience — in their own words.
Hitting the airwaves, billboards and social media Monday, a series of ads featuring Milwaukee residents sharing their reasons for getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
The campaign created by a coalition of local government, nonprofit and health organizations, targets Black and Latinx residents who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and are often more skeptical about the vaccine than others.
"The fears related to side effects or just not having enough information to make informed decisions," Lorraine Lathen said.
Lorraine Lathen's consulting firm, Jump at the Sun, conducted the focus group research which showed undecided residents want to hear from people who look like them.
"They’re being bombarded with a lot of information but who should they trust?" she said.
Among the local voices and faces featured — Laura Manriquez.
"I was infected with COVID, not once, but twice," she said.
Passionate about keeping families together and healthy, Manriquez is urging parents to roll up their sleeves for their children who aren't yet able to do so.
"We need to protect those babies. Their future is in our hands," she said.
A message that will also be supported by boots on the ground. Organizers are mobilizing more than 200 individuals to begin going door to door to further build vaccine confidence.
"Our goal was not to convince. Our goal was to be respectful, but we’d like it to be an informed decision," Lathen said.
The campaign not only recruited the local community to in front of the camera, but community members were also hired to work behind the camera, putting together those images.
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