COVID-19 PSA

Work

Apr 4

Role: Associate Creative Director, Songwriter, Vocal Producer

This was the brief no one wanted. Three years into the pandemic, public-health messaging had become subdued, familiar and easy to overlook. I saw an opportunity to make some noise and get Californians to pay attention to information that could help them recover from COVID-19.

Inspired by classic public-health slogans like “Stop, Drop and Roll,” I wrote a song that turned the steps to accessing COVID treatment into something simple, memorable and genuinely catchy. The lyrics went through more than a dozen rounds of legal review, requiring me to protect the creative idea while meeting the demands of an exceptionally regulated category. I also learned that, if you’re determined enough, a surprising number of things can rhyme with “test negative sooner.”

Results: The public-service banger “Test It, Treat It, You Can Beat It” performed strongly enough to return for a second year. Campaign recall far exceeded our benchmark and people who saw the work were twice as likely to understand their COVID-19 treatment options. The campaign also increased awareness of treatment benefits by 16% and the likelihood of recommending treatment to a friend by 13%.

But my favorite measure of success came from parents and teachers, who told me their kids couldn’t stop singing it.