ROLE

Copywriter

AGENCY

Arnold Worldwide

VIBES

Segways & Megaphones

TEAM

CD/AD: Eric Peterson

CD/CW: Matt LeDoux

AD: John Murray

AD: Keith Caruso

CW: Me

Producer: Sarah Spitz

ECD: Pete Favat

Director: Bob Rice

Remember when flu shots and public health conversations weren’t remotely controversial? Travel back with me to the halcyon days of 2010-ish: I was a copywriter at Arnold Worldwide, and CVS/Pharmacy came to the agency with a bold plan to increase the national flu shot footprint by making prevention feel less like a chore and more like choosing your own heroic quest to battle unseen forces.

Our “You vs. Flu” campaign turned getting vaccinated into an annual face-off with seasonal misery, positioning CVS as your corner person in the fight. We cast an actress who looked suspiciously like my mom for the lady on the Segway, and a child actor who could have been my brother’s twin in the other spot.

I also got roped into doing the pharmacy tech actress’s hair on the day of the shoot, because apparently my beauty school degree makes me a Swiss Army knife type of creative. (I didn’t do any manicures on set, though.) Those were simpler times, when the biggest debate was whether to get the shot in your left arm or your right.

I can’t remember the results metrics for this, but I do remember being a very stressed-out junior creative on the set and feeling like the shelves looked like something from “The Shining.” So there’s that!