A Call to Arms

A campaign that enlists arms of every kind from “the toned, the tatted and the sun-deprived” to encourage all Americans to get vaccinated because “better times are within arms reach.” By looking to the past for inspiring and iconic imagery that drove Americans to work together and overcome obstacles, the campaign appeals to a shared sense of duty updated for the America we see today.

The breaking campaign builds on the artwork and messaging of iconic home front effort posters, such as Rosie the Riveter and Smokey the Bear, with a modern twist. Venables Bell + Partners worked with photographer Jim Hughes to photograph a wide range of masked people proudly displaying their vaccination bandages. Alice Blue Production Studio then hand painted the images and created the typography to give them a vintage poster look.

The ads end with a simple and direct call-to-action: “Don’t wait. Vaccinate.”

“We are proud to launch a campaign that is visually representative of the communities that we serve and reaffirms the VCV’s priority and commitment to equitable vaccine distribution. We invite you to ‘roll up your sleeves’ and help us defeat this virus.”

Lorey Zlotnick, Chief Marketing Officer at Team Rubicon and founding member of the
Veterans Coalition for Vaccination.

“The national vaccination effort is the largest and most important mobilization in recent history. We felt that the messaging needed to be welcoming and optimistic, but also feel big, and really tap into people’s sense of duty to a larger cause; something the Veterans Coalition is very familiar with.”

Tyler Hampton, Creative Director at Venables Bell + Partners

Alice Blue Studios Production Company
Photographer: Jim Hughes
Illustrator: Lena Pigareva
Type Design: David Waraksa
Executive Producer; Meredith Ott
Agency: Venable Bells + Partners
Client: Veterans Coalition for Vaccination​​​​​​​