The Biden administration has enlisted McDonald’s for its multimillion-dollar vaccine awareness campaign, “We Can Do This.”
McDonald’s will dedicate inventory on its Times Square billboard and feature the campaign’s slogan on McCafé and McDelivery packaging across the country.
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The government began its campaign, which is run by the US Department of Health and Human Services, in April. It includes TV, radio, print ads, and social media. And now the campaign will also be supported by the fast-food giant.
Last month, The Washington Post reported the administration planned to spend $10 million on TV ads in April. It is part of a $250 million contract signed with consultancy Fors Marsh originally approved by the Trump administration last year. Fors March bid some of the work out to WPP shops VMLY&R and Wavemaker, according to Business Insider.
Omnicom’s DDB will be handling the “We Can Do This” advertising on McDonald’s Times Square billboard, a McDonald’s spokeswoman told Ad Age.
As part of the campaign, McDonald’s will also carry the message on McCafé cups and McDelivery packaging. The messaging will direct people to vaccines.gov, which includes a tool to help locate vaccination centers as well as educational material on why it is important to get vaccinated.
The Biden Administration is launching the “We Can Do This” campaign as vaccination rates are falling across the country after having peaked in April. The US is now administering about 2 million shots per day, down from 3.4 million shots per day back in April.
In a statement about McDonald’s involvement, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said: “Thanks to McDonald’s, people will now be able to get trusted information about vaccines when they grab a cup of coffee or order a meal. Ending this pandemic requires all of us working together to do our part, including encouraging our friends and family to get vaccinated.”
Genna Gent, McDonald’s USA VP for global public policy and government relations, added: “This is a team effort—it takes all of us. We’re proud to enter this partnership to provide trusted, independently verified information about COVID-19 vaccines to our customers in the nearly 14,000 communities we serve.”
