April 3rd, 2020
Monroe County Executive Adam Bello and Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren today unveiled a new public health campaign designed to engage the entire community in slowing the spread of COVID-19.
"Six Feet Saves” consists of video, print, digital and community-based messaging to drive home the urgent need to stay at home or stay six feet away from other people at all times. In addition to making it powerful, the simplicity of the campaign makes it easy to translate into other languages and to target different abilities.
"What we do today will make a difference in what happens tomorrow,” Bello said. "Through this campaign, we hope to reach as many people as possible, in all neighborhoods, so that we can protect ourselves, our families and our community by slowing the spread of COVID-19.”
"COVID-19 can't spread unless we let it spread,” said Warren. "This campaign delivers that message loud and clear. We can and must protect ourselves, our loved ones and our community. I'm grateful to everyone involved in delivering the "Six Feet Saves” message for our City.”
The "Six Feet Saves” campaign was created by Partners + Napier, a leading international creative agency headquartered in Rochester, under the leadership of Chief Creative Officer Rob Kottkamp and at no charge to Monroe County or the City of Rochester. The campaign was coordinated by Causewave Community Partners, which worked with the Center for Community Health and Prevention at the University of Rochester to bring the campaign to life.
The "Six Feet Saves” messaging began tonight with a public service announcement broadcast by 13WHAM, WHEC-TV, WROC-TV and Spectrum. These stations are among the many local television, radio, and print media outlets donating time and space for the campaign. The messaging will also appear in various outdoor locations, businesses and other places. Community influencers will also be sharing the messaging on their social platforms.
"We are grateful to the many partners who have come forward to help, and we hope others will join us in getting the message out,” Bello said. "We can all play an important role in saving lives.”
The "Six Feet Saves” campaign includes toolkits, in English and Spanish, that allow individuals to access the messaging for their own use. This will allow for an even wider distribution of a consistent message. The toolkits are available at SixFeetSaves.org.
Statement from Rob Kottkamp, Chief Creative Officer of Partners + Napier: "Reminding people to stay six feet apart is a simple message that needs to be shared everywhere. That's why we created a landing page to make the work accessible to any person or entity who needs it. Social distancing is critical to flattening the infection rate curve so as not to overwhelm our healthcare system, here and everywhere,”
Statement from Sharon Napier, Chair and Founder of Partners + Napier: "With the COVID-19 pandemic's profound impact on the country and on the world, we didn't hesitate when local government officials asked for our help. As an agency, we are proud to be contributing to this effort at a time when too many people feel helpless and uncertain. It feels good to create certainty through purpose.”
Statement from Todd Butler, President and CEO of Causewave Community Partners: "Causewave is involved in addressing important community issues year in and year out. But there has been no more urgent community need in a generation or more, and we're so pleased to have the chance to help develop this behavior change campaign. Our friends and supporters at Partners + Napier and all the local media outlets are true heroes for helping develop and deliver impactful messages that really will save lives."
Statement for Dr. Nancy Bennett, Director of the Center for Community Health and Prevention, University of Rochester: "The Monroe County Department of Public Health, led by Dr. Michael Mendoza, has been doing heroic work to manage and control the pandemic in our County. They need our full support to do their jobs. We must all do our part.”
