The CDC is playing up FOMO, or "fear of missing out," as one strategy to get Generation Z and millennials vaccinated, PR Week reported Jan. 25.
The campaign, which was launched in 19 cities in October, highlights the fact that many travel destinations require travelers to be vaccinated.
"Any activity you do is only a shot away. Going to the movies with your friends, flying to a festival," Robyn Loube, vice president of East Coast operations at Sensis, the advertising agency that partnered with the CDC for the campaign, told PR Week. The campaign's central idea is "playing off of FOMO and not wanting to miss out on what your friends are doing," she said.
The aim was to target Gen Z and millennials, as their rates for vaccination lag behind older generations.
For example, CDC data showed that adults ages 18 to 24 had a 58.4 percent vaccination rate and adults ages 25 to 39 had a 62.7 percent vaccination rate. Their older counterparts, adults ages 65 and up, had an 88 percent vaccination rate.
The campaign also wanted to target the Black population, as their vaccination rate of 51 percent trailed behind rates of white, Hispanic and Asian populations, the article reported.
Sensis, the advertisement agency that partnered with the federal agency for this campaign, told PR Week that these generations needed information to be presented in a way where they felt like they weren't being told what to do.