D6 Creates PSA Campaign Urging Arkansans to ‘Please Consider Vaccination'

Customer experience agency DEFINITION 6 (D6) created a vaccine awareness campaign for The GreenShoots Foundation, a nonpartisan organisation dedicated to uplifting people across the social fabric of America. The campaign is urging Arkansans to 'Please Consider Vaccination' as the State has one of the nation’s lowest full vaccination rates for Covid-19. D6 executed the integrated campaign entirely in-house, producing and distributing deliverables for TV, radio, OOH, digital, and social media. 

The campaign marks the inaugural call-to-action for The GreenShoots Foundation, which was founded by Arkansas native and NYC-based financial services veteran Ted Huffman and his wife, Cheryl Huffman.

Media outlets across Arkansas are donating airtime to broadcast the campaign’s touching PSA about a father’s journey overcoming vaccine hesitancy. “Our hero’s transformation is a journey, one that captures the same journey many of us are on,” explains Ted Huffman. “The father’s struggle with the decision to vaccinate is real. By welcoming people to experience his journey, hopefully, they find comfort in their own path to get vaccinated.” DEFINITION 6 created the campaign around two pillars the Huffmans identified: tradition and culture. More deeply defined as family, community, faith, and work, the agency carried these themes throughout the campaign. 

“Ted and Cheryl had a beautiful vision for an apolitical PSA,” says D6 VP/creative director Noah Lerner, who worked closely with the Huffmans to conceive the campaign. “Using the father’s journey as a metaphor, they had a very specific portrait of this character and who he represents, which was the perfect vehicle to get their pro-vaccination message across in an emotional, visual, and narratively-driven way.” 

In addition to the media outlets that have donated airtime for the PSA, the foundation funded local media buys for the spot to air during national college football broadcasts and primetime slots on FOX News, working closely with D6’s media planning and PR teams, respectively. 

D6 VP of Production Andrea Allen headed up the 50-person, live-action shoot for the PSA, written by D6’s Tim Reilly and directed by Norry Niven. The company’s Emmy Award-winning team finished the soup-to-nuts effort, providing everything from editorial to music, sound design, and mix. 

“This production had a lot of magic pixie dust,” remarks Allen. “It came together so beautifully and dovetailed into other campaign deliverables. Ted also wanted this PSA to be an homage to the people of his home State, so we looked at every detail in the film to portray a spirit of gratitude and authenticity, which included bringing on as many local crews and talent as we could for the shoot.” 

D6 SVP/creative director Crystal Hall oversaw the OOH, print, and social components of the campaign, which features still photography from the PSA shoot. Hall concepted three main looks for the key art – the interior of the man’s truck, an “everyman” portrait, and his kids – which is prominently featured on billboards throughout the State of Arkansas. The team also curated a library of images to use in future iterations of the campaign.

“Bringing this campaign to life was a truly integrated effort that tapped into our core competencies as an agency – creative, production, distribution, publicity, social strategy, and digital – plus the opportunity to do that for a higher purpose made it all the more gratifying,” concludes D6 President Jason Rockman. “Early findings from our analytics team show this campaign is making an impact on vaccination rates in Arkansas and beyond, as media outlets across state lines are now airing the campaign. None of this would have been possible without the tenacious vision and charity of Ted and Cheryl Huffman. We thank them for entrusting us to shepherd such a vitally important campaign.”