NJDOH spent over $39 million on an award-winning campaign to fear and shame citizens into compliance.
Somehow I’m just seeing this now:
From the article:
Kivvit’s shaming binge was well greased by a $39+ Million dollars funded fully by the very people whom they were out to shame.
From the video:
The New Jersey Department of Health led efforts statewide to change public behavior as a means to mitigate the effects of and spread of the Coronovirus. On behalf of the department, Kivvet deployed thousands of ads across TV, radio, out of home print, and over a dozen digital platforms. When the Delta variant hit, Kivvit had to build a new playbook using hard-hitting ads that deployed fear, humor and shame to unvaccinated residents. By February 2022, New Jersey had one of the highest vaccination rates in America.
Kivvit (apparently transitioning to Avoq) is a public relations and communications services company. According to their Linked-in page.
“We shape narratives, launch brands, engage audiences, and drive policy outcomes.”
Shaping narratives to drive policy outcomes? Sounds an awful lot like propaganda.
And Kivvit won multiple awards, and was nominated for an Emmy, for this work. They “take great pride in knowing this effort helped saved lives.”
Kivvit has worked to amplify NJDOH messaging and resources to change public behavior… This high-impact work with the NJDOH has led to measurable, life-saving results reflected by an improvement in statewide COVID-19 testing rates and the success of the state’s vaccination efforts.
“We are incredibly proud of this honor and want to thank NJDOH and the Murphy Administration for being great partners in this endeavor,” said Director of Brand Strategy Pearl Gabel. “The Kivvit team is always looking for the best, most innovative approach to tackle challenges. This campaign is a testament to that. More importantly, however, we take great pride in knowing this effort helped saved lives. There is nothing more rewarding than that.”
Kivvit has worked to amplify NJDOH’s messaging and resources to educate the public and mitigate the effects of COVID-19 since the early stages of the pandemic in April 2020. Since then, Kivvit’s work has evolved to encompass a multitude of strategies, leveraging state-of-the-art insights and thousands of ads in dozens of languages.
Shaping narratives, driving policy and changing public behavior is big business.
Kivvit is now being rebranded at Avōq. "With the new name, Avoq (uh-VOKE), comes the advancement of fourteen longtime employees to partner, including Adam Steinberger, who worked for two New Jersey governors, Richard J. Codey and Jon Corzine.
Chris Donnelly is the general manager of Avoq’s New Jersey office, and Megan Cryan is a senior vice president."
https://newjerseyglobe.com/lobbying/kiviit-rebrands-as-avoq/