‘Everyone has a vested interest’: With delta variant and rising COVID-19 cases, brands recommit to vaccination campaigns

As the delta variant threatens society’s soon-promised return to normalcy, brands are once again ramping up campaign efforts to get Americans vaccinated against COVID-19.

At least half of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated but with new variants spiking infection cases, and the FDA’s recent approval of the Pfizer vaccine, brands like Axe body spray, Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Expedia Group travel brands have reexamined their public health efforts and launched new campaigns. 

“Everyone has a vested interest in getting the world back to normal as quickly as possible,” said Jon Gieselman, President of Expedia Brands. 

Krispy Kreme, which was one of the first national brands to offer vaccination incentives, is revisiting its original campaign, offering two free doughnuts to Americans who have received at least one vaccination shot. The Axe campaign, which launched in June, touts national ad spots, an in-person experience and product giveaways as incentives.

Meanwhile, Expedia Groups’ efforts span across all its brands, including Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo and others for a global vaccination campaign in partnership with UNICEF. Each purchase made through the brands’ mobile apps will contribute to a $10 million Expedia Group-backed donation toward UNICEF’s global COVID-19 efforts, including vaccine distribution, diagnostics and treatments.

“That alone isn’t going to solve the world’s challenges, but [it’s] in the hopes that it would inspire other companies to either join our effort or in their own way,” said Gieselman. 

Given the travel industry was one of the hardest hit when pandemic lockdown went into effect, a vaccination campaign made sense for Expedia Group, Gieselman said.  “We saw this as perfectly aligning with [the] company’s goals and the larger mission of helping our fellow man,” he said.