While it’s difficult to imagine George Costanza as anyone’s guardian angel (cheap, toxic, wedding envelopes, anyone?), actor Jason Alexander makes for a delightfully earnest one in Sanofi and the American Nurses Association's (ANA's) national flu vaccination campaign.
“Not Today, Flu” features the “Seinfeld” alum as a pastel-suited protector saving a woman from such annoyances as bird poo, spoiled milk and bee stings. He points out that protection doesn’t need to be supernatural; a flu shot can also protect you from complications such as pneumonia, heart attack and stroke.
Alexander, best known for his role on “Seinfeld,” was a very specific choice.
“Jason's a great partner—his acting success and the reputation that he has across the specifically adult population, and also his passion for the cause. It really was a great collaboration between himself Sanofi and the AMA,” Ken Paulino, head of the adult vaccine business unit for Sanofi U.S., said.
The push comes in response to last year's unusual spurt of late-season flu cases as well as an increase in 2022 cases in the Southern Hemisphere that could cause an“unpredictable” flu season in the U.S. There is also the matter of that scene-stealing disease, COVID-19.
“Last season, we really saw vaccination fatigue in general within the population, and that's really what we're trying to counter and get back to pre-pandemic awareness and the appetite to get immunized for influenza again,” Paulino said. “Influenza has been around for forever. It's been , tremendous public health concern. Unfortunately, over the past two years, the focus on COVID-19 and the pandemic has played a different place in the overall disease awareness standpoint.“
In addition to the spot, there is, of course, a website—nottodayflu.com—which offers links to find where to get a shot, and there are traditional media with Alexander doing interviews as well as the usual socials.
This is the third year of Sanofi partnering with the ANA to get the word out about the importance of the flu vaccine. Last year’s ad featured “Dirty Dancing” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” actress Jennifer Grey.
Sanofi offers Fluzone, a high-dose vaccine for people 65 and older, as well as Flublok, a recombinant protein-based flu vaccine.