Ad Council 2020-2021 No Time for Flu Campaign

Friday, November 6, 2020 — Flu vaccination is more important than ever in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic because it can reduce the overall amount of flu illness this season, in turn reducing the burden on health care systems and saving medical resources for care of patients with COVID-19. While CDC conducts annual education and awareness campaigns with the goal of increasing flu vaccination, this season, extra work has been done in this area, including the launch of a new campaign called: No One Has Time for Flu.

The campaign is the result of a collaboration between The Ad Council, the American Medical Association (AMA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the CDC Foundation, which along with AMA provided campaign funding. The campaign aims to increase vaccine uptake overall, but puts a particular emphasis on reaching African American and Hispanic/LatinX communities, populations that can be disproportionately affected by flu illness and serious flu complications, but are less likely to be vaccinated.

Campaign public service announcements (PSAs) presented by the Ad Council run on space donated by TV stations, media outlets, and social media platforms. Many campaign assets, including television public service announcements, are available for viewing and sharing at http://getmyflushot.adcouncilkit.org/.

In preparation for the campaign, the Ad Council arranged for quantitative research surveys to be fielded, to help understand behaviors and attitudes towards flu vaccines in 2020 among African American and Hispanic uncommitted consumers, defined as people who had not yet decided to get vaccinated this season.

Survey findings showed that 52% of Hispanic adults and 43% of African American adults said they are likely to get a flu shot in 2020. This compares to 63% among White adults.

Nearly 40% of both African American and Hispanic respondents remain uncommitted, which compares to just 24% of whites. Research suggests inertia is a big factor in why African Americans and Hispanics do not get a flu vaccine. The top reason given for not getting vaccinated was “I never get the flu shot/not something I do.”

The Ad Council partnered with fluent360, a creative agency based in Chicago, to develop the creative concept and materials for the No One Has Time for Flu campaign. The PSAs highlight the different circumstances many people are experiencing as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that, now, more than ever, no one has time to be sick with flu. Visit http://getmyflushot.adcouncilkit.org/ to see campaign assets and visit GetMyFluShot.org, which is the consumer website of the campaign.

Resources for No One Has Time for Flu Campaign