Work

Test it. Treat it. You can beat it.

COVID fatigue is real, but so are the treatments. Pushing through that barrier with a sing-along? Now that’s contagious in the best way.

Image showing a diverse group of five (5) people smiling and happy, some with hands raised in the air, wearing shirts that are (in order): yellow, lavender, dark blue, teal and bright pink, bright yellow background with all caps copy, “Test it. Treat it. You can beat it.” in green, pink and then purple font

While COVID is still among California’s top five causes of death, awareness was needed to build demand for available COVID treatments, particularly among communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the virus and historically underserved by the medical system. DC was named lead creative and media agency for the California Department of Public Health’s statewide campaign.

GIF with bright pink background showing a mustached man with a plaid shirt, light pink undershirt and jeans doing a fun pop-and-lick style dance. Copy comes across the screen reading, “Now there’s medication to treat COVID-19. Make COVID suck less

Ad with dark purple background showing a woman standing bent in a strength dance pose and man standing over her in a search dance pose. He wears a lavender t-shirt and flared blue pants, she wears a bright pink jumper and white shorts. Copy in white and yellow reads, “Outsmart COVID.” With smaller white type on left, middle, reading, “Now there’s medication to treat COVID-19.”

GIF on forest green background showing an older woman / grandma wearing light blue slacks, a dark blue cardigan with a patterned, light blouse with large bow-tie doing a celebratory dance. Copy in white above her reads, “Outsmart COVID.” (“COVID” in yellow type) then flashes to, “Now there’s medication to treat COVID-19.” in smaller white type.

With low awareness of COVID therapeutic treatments like Paxlovid, this campaign aims to normalize testing and treatment as soon as people notice symptoms — and encourage Californians to ask their doctors for COVID treatments.

To break through COVID fatigue and complacency, we took an uplifting approach to a topic most people want to avoid. Inspired by memorable devices like “Stop, Drop and Roll,” the song’s hook ‘Test It. Treat It. You Can Beat It,’ is the campaign’s jovial rallying cry. Grounded in the insight that target Californians are concerned about missed work — and lost income — disincentivizing them from testing when they have symptoms, the campaign’s two colorful, music video-inspired TV spots instead feel like a dance party featuring real Californians getting down to an original song.

Working with our multicultural agency partners, Barú, APartnership and Nuna, and casting real people with a range of backgrounds — age 50+, LGBTQI+, Black, Latine, Asian American and Native American — DC aims to ensure all Californians can see themselves in the work.

Vertical ad with dark purple background with bold yellow type on top left reading, “Hugs are better when they’re healthy.” Followed by small white type reading, “Now there’s medication to treat COVID-19.” A woman wearing a bright pink jumper has jumped on the shoulders of a man with a lavender t-shirt, both are smiling in a celebratory manner.

Image with bright pink background showing a man with mustache in plaid shirt hugging a woman with a light yellow t-shirt. Both are smiling and looking toward the camera. Above them, copy in large yellow type reads, “Hugs are better when they’re healthy.” Below that, in small white type, copy reads, “Now there’s medication to treat COVID-19.

GIF on dark purple background showing a man in khakis, teal blue bowler shirt and tan panama hat dancing and doing a hip bump with a woman wearing light pink slacks and light yellow t-shirt with orange neck scarf. Copy above them in large, bold pink type reads, “Recover Smoother.” then flashes to thin white type reading, “Now there’s medication to treat COVID-19.”

GIF set in a pharmacy store showing a diverse group of people doing various dances throughout the store, including a person in blue doing the “worm” on the floor and a man in a button up t-shirt doing an arm swing. A blue banner sign above the pharmacy counter reads, “Your Local Pharmacy”. A main woman dancer wearing glasses and a multi-color striped shirt and jeans appears holding a box of medication which she displays while dancing happily. Next to her a woman in pink does an electric slide type dance.

DC led the media strategy and buy across TV, connected TV, radio, social media, print and digital OOH for point-of-care screens, health kiosks, gas toppers, and hyperlocal newspaper print ads in tandem with our multicultural partners, who also developed media strategies and culturally relevant versions that took inspiration from our original song for in-language creative in Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Vietnamese, Korean and Tagalog. While PR partner RALLY generated earned media coverage throughout the state.

All work drives audiences to visit www.YouCanBeatIt.org to learn more about COVID therapeutic treatments.