Screen light/Northern Light Mercy Hospital
Slugger the Sea Dog is the star of a video produced by Northern Light Mercy Hospital reminding Maine residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Updated: April 19, 2021
Sports-themed video campaigns urge Mainers to get vaccinated
Screenshot / Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson appears in a video as part of an awareness campaign by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care about getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
What do an Olympic gold medal-winning marathon runner, a basketball team executive and a furry baseball team mascot have in common? All are starring in video campaigns encouraging their fellow Mainers to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
One campaign, by Massachusetts-based nonprofit benefits provider Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, features pep talks by Maine Red Claws President Dajuan Eubanks and by Cape Elizabeth native Joan Benoit Samuelson, who won the gold medal in the 1984 Olympic women's marathon race, in Los Angeles.
A separate campaign, by Portland's Northern Light Mercy Hospital, shows Portland Sea Dogs mascot Slugger enthusiastically receiving a shot himself.
Filmed inside Portland's State Theatre, the Harvard Pilgrim 15- and 30-second videos were produced by a local team that works with Portland-based content-creation company Vagrant, a Harvard Pilgrim spokesperson told Mainebiz. Starting today, the messages will be shown on broadcast and social media outlets.
The spots feature Eubanks and Benoit Samuelson reflecting on facing opponents in the sports world.
"And if you want to beat them," Eubanks says, "you can't just sit on the sidelines ... This virus is the opponent we're all up against."
"But there's a way to beat it, "Benoit Samuelson adds. "Get vaccinated."
The Harvard Pilgrim spokesperson said that the videos will be on Facebook and Instagram targeting all demographic groups, and that in addition to Maine will have a six-week run in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut.
The videos can be viewed online here (for the 30-second version) and here (for the 15-second version).
At Boston’s Fenway Park before each Red Sox game, Harvard Pilgrim is airing a video with a similar message. It features Boston Red Sox catcher Christian Vasquez urging people to get vaccinated and to wear a mask.
Harvard Pilgrim is also encouraging its own employees to get vaccinated, the spokesperson said.
Slugger's shot in the arm
Not to be outdone, an in-house team at Northern Light Mercy Hospital produced a public service ad starring Slugger at its Portland Expo vaccination clinic, about 250 feet from Hadlock Field where the Sea Dogs play. The hospital is part of the Northern Light Health system.
Though Slugger doesn't talk, he's shown getting his shot in the arm, then giving a socially distanced high-five to the person next to him in the seated recovery area.
It's currently airing on Northern Light Health YouTube and Facebook channels. The Sea Dogs also plan to share the video on their channels and at games during the year "or until the need for vaccine communication goes away," according to a Northern Light spokesman.
Asked how Northern Light will measure the campaign's success, the spokesman said, "The goal is a high rate of vaccination in our region and state.” The video can be viewed here.
Latest on vaccinations, cases
Both campaigns come as Maine reached a milestone in its vaccination effort over the weekend.
On Sunday, the office of Gov. Janet Mills reported that half of Maine people age 16 and older had received at least one dose. That includes 38% of eligible Maine residents who have received final doses against the virus.
Nevertheless, with 34 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days, Maine has one of the country's highest rates of infections, a New York Times database shows.
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