White House Reportedly Bringing in NASCAR, Christian Broadcasting Network to Help Sell Covid Vaccine to Skeptics
The massive $1.9 trillion Covid Relief Bill recently signed into law by President Joe Biden included a line item to spend roughly $1.5 billion on paid media to promote Covid-19 vaccinations for Americans hesitant to “get the jab” so to speak. The notion of a White House-led effort spending federal dollars for advertising—in a hyperpartisan media landscape—raised questions, particularly since many conservatives appear to be the most adverse to getting vaccinated for the potentially deadly contagion.
The Ad Council has just released a new 90-second spot, featuring Willie Nelson singing the American songbook standard I’ll Be Seeing You over what can be fairly called Americana b-roll that holds broad appeal, but seems slightly skewed to a Red State residing viewer. According to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal, this is no accident. The Biden Administration is working with the Christian Broadcasting Network, NASCAR and the American Farm Bureau work to deliver the pro-vaxx message to people the Biden administration believes it can’t reach.
Recent polling has indicated that a significant number of those who identify as members of the Republican party are reticent to get the Covid vaccine and half of all Republican men saying they won’t get it. During a press briefing last week, Press Secretary Jen Psaki made clear that the Biden Administration understood that they were perhaps not the best ambassadors to help convince Trump supports to get the vaccine.
According to The WSJ:
The administration aims to use such organizations to help persuade conservatives, one of the demographic groups that polls show have significant reluctance to get the coronavirus vaccine.
The Ad Council, a nonprofit that produces public-service announcements, and the Covid Collaborative, a coalition of leaders in education, health and economics, announced a campaign Tuesday that will run during time donated by media across TV and digital media platforms.
The public-service campaign features videos with a new Willie Nelson recording and athletes representing 13 sports leagues and organizations, including the National Football League, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association.
A spokesman for the Christian Broadcasting Network said the group welcomes the Biden team’s effort.
The spot, which you can see above via YouTube, features a montage of footage captured at crowded sporting events including baseball games, NASCAR races, soccer matches and golf tournaments just to name a few. It is not clear yet exactly where these ads will run, but the fact that the Biden Administration is partnering with CBN, suggests that they are headed in the “right” (conservative) direction in spending $1.5 billion in federal dollars for an ad buy.
