Despite the introduction of three effective vaccines, COVID-19 continued to ravage much of the United States in 2021. As the death toll reached 800,000+ Americans, data revealed that Republicans were significantly less likely to be vaccinated and therefore MORE likely to die from the virus. To encourage vaccinations in conservative regions, we needed a message that resonated with a conservative audience.
COVID-19 could have been the perfect political enemy for uniting a divided country: it originated in a Communist country, it poses a serious threat to American citizens, and it requires a community effort to stop the spread. So, what if politicians and public health officials had talked about the virus the same way we talk about other foreign enemies, say, terrorists?
We created a pro-bono lifestyle brand asking Americans to fight for their country and “bare arms” against COVID-19. We modeled our aesthetic after popular military brands with patriotic slogans. We designed custom t-shirts and hats and bumper stickers. We lobbied for support from conservative influencers and right-wing media outlets—even a few Russian bots.
Sadly, we didn’t move the needle on vaccinations (we couldn’t even pay influencers to do the right thing). But we did shine a light on the hypocrisy of anti-vaccine rhetoric, making some people really, really mad. And we did it while raising money for CRUSH COVID – SOS, a crowdfunding initiative by the CDC Foundation helping combat COVID-19 by deploying resources for staffing, oxygen and shots.
