CDCF – Let’s Get Real About COVID
Campaign Snapshot
Client: COVID-19 Vaccine Resource Hub / CDC Foundation
Role: Creative Director (Concept | Production | Edit)
Deliverables: Series of testimonial videos highlighting diverse community experiences
Overview
The Let’s Get Real About COVID video series is a human-centered storytelling initiative aimed at increasing understanding, empathy, and real-world connection around the COVID-19 vaccine. Rather than relying on data or clinical messaging alone, this campaign places everyday people — barbers, bakers, teachers, and mothers — in the spotlight, sharing authentic experiences and motivations for vaccination.
The result is a suite of relatable narratives that shift perception through lived reality, not abstract guidance.
The Challenge
During the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, large public health campaigns often struggled to connect emotionally with communities most affected by fear, misinformation, or fatigue. Official messaging fell into two traps:
Clinical, impersonal language that doesn’t feel “for me”
One-size-fits-all media that doesn’t reflect diverse lived experiences
The challenge was to create video content that normalizes the conversation through people who look, speak, and live like the audiences we needed to reach.
Creative Strategy
Our approach was rooted in authenticity and relatability:
Real Voices, Real Context — Each video features a community member speaking directly into camera, in their own space, in their own words. These aren’t spokespersons — they’re storytellers.
Everyday Life as the Setting — We avoided staged sets; every location feels lived-in and actual — a barbershop chair, a bakery counter, a classroom, a home.
Simple, Honest Editing — Clean cuts and minimal graphics let the stories breathe. When visual cues are used, they underline meaning rather than distract from it.
No heavy effects. No overt branding. Just human truth.
Key Work / Deliverables
Kim’s Bakery — “Why I Got Vaccinated”
Kim, a beloved bakery owner, shares how protecting her customers and family inspired her vaccine decision. Her warmth and community-rooted life invite empathy and connection.
Gee’s Clippers — “Community First”
Gee, a barber, talks about bringing people together, the impact of COVID on his community, and how vaccination allowed him to keep serving people safely.
Breastfeeding & Immunity — “Protecting the Littlest”
This video highlights a breastfeeding mother’s perspective — prioritizing her baby’s immune health and grounding vaccine decisions in care and protection.
Ja’Rahn Leveston — Music Educator’s Story
As an art and music teacher, Ja’Rahn discusses how school, creativity, and community reliance shaped her understanding of safety and responsibility during the pandemic.
Impact
While these videos were not performance-optimized social ads, they achieved impact by:
Humanizing public health rather than medicalizing it
Supporting health departments, clinics, and community organizations with shareable narratives
Giving communities faces and voices they could see themselves in
Feedback from partners highlighted that these stories were used in local outreach, clinic waiting rooms, and social shares where authenticity mattered more than impression counts.
My Role: Creative Director
I led concept development, narrative framing, talent sourcing, direction, and editorial workflow. My focus was ensuring every voice was captured authentically, respectfully, and with clarity of message, while balancing public health accuracy with emotional resonance.