Ads that encourage mask-wearing are still running — do they work? We explored impact
An ad from the Mecklenburg County Health Department on the back of a CATS bus encourages people to wear masks to protect themselves from COVID-19 and the flu.
The ad appears to show a father and child wearing masks while embracing each other in a public setting with a message that reads, “THE FLU IS STILL HERE ... AND SO IS COVID.”
Although the Mecklenburg County mandate that required all individuals to wear masks in public places ended in February, a health department spokesperson contacted by The Charlotte Observer about the advertisement that was placed before 2022 said in a statement that “while the mask mandate is over, the wearing of masks still goes on.”
The message, the health department said, “is relevant.”
Does promoting mask-wearing influence others to do the same?
Seeing someone wearing a mask makes it more likely that others will do the same, Helen Wall, a senior lecturer in psychology at Edge Hill University in England, wrote for TheConversation.com, an independent news organization.
Studies have also shown that people are more likely to accept public health guidelines if they are clear and simple, and if they trust the source, according to Wall.
But some polling suggests that trust in public health agencies has dwindled since the start of the pandemic.
A survey published in 2021 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that only 52% of Americans have a great deal of trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Less than half of Americans said they had a lot of trust in their local and state health departments, according to the results.
How does the public respond to ads with masks?
A study conducted in July of 2020 by Ace Metrix, a technology company that measures the impact of video advertising, found that viewer attitudes towards face coverings were “overwhelmingly positive” when masks were the main focus in ads.
However, the inclusion of masks in ads where they were not the focal point did not impact their effectiveness, the study found.
“Perhaps, the more forward ads benefited from messaging that clearly made the case for masks, whereas subtle ads left viewers to draw their own conclusions,” Ace Metrix stated.
When ads did not include masks, they “did not evoke strong enough feelings for most viewers to even comment on the matter,” according to Ace Metrix. But some pointed out that it was irresponsible to portray people without masks.
When should people wear masks?
The CDC continues to recommend masks in indoor transportation settings, and for those who are at high risk for getting very sick from COVID-19.
Masks are also recommended for those who live in counties where COVID-19 transmission levels are high, according to the CDC.
Transmission levels in Mecklenburg County are currently low, according to the CDC community levels that measure the impact of COVID-19 spread on hospital systems.
This story was originally published September 16, 2022 at 4:19 PM.
