The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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By John Glenday, Reporter

February 10, 2021 | 2 min read

You may not be anywhere near the office water cooler right now, but we still want to spotlight the most talked about creative from the brands that should be on your radar. Today, we take a look at a star-studded campaign featuring famous faces from Harry Potter to the Joker encouraging Americans to wear face masks.

Americans are being encouraged to emulate their screen idols and wear a face mask to protect themselves and others from the spread of Covid-19. Celluloid figures as diverse as Immortan Joe, Dr Evil and Neo have been unwittingly enlisted for a public service announcement that weaves together unforgettable masked up scenes from cinematic history to deliver an urgent public health message.

Backed by the Ad Council, the Centre for Disease Control and WarnerMedia, the message unites some of the best-known characters from the Warner Bros catalog to promote the benefits of covering up.

The commercial comes as the number of Americans opting to consistently don a mask when out and about has stalled over recent months at around three-quarters of the population, despite the continued spread of Covid-19 through communities.

To address this contradiction, familiar scenes from franchises such as Mad Max, Austin Powers and the Matrix have been edited together to show that even the most powerful superheroes and villainous antagonists are not afraid to mask up when the situation demands it.

Crafted on a pro bono basis by WarnerMedia Studios’ in-house creative agency 10th Street Productions, the clip feeds into the Ad Council’s ’Mask Up America’ initiative to curtail the spread of the virus.

Throughout the pandemic, the Ad Council has played a leading role in influencing behavior through advertising and public service announcements on issues such as the importance of mental health awareness through the crisis.

The mash-up of famous film scenes dovetails with efforts to promote and distribute a vaccine with brands such as Facebook and Walmart helping to educate the public on the need to immunize.

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