BooneOakley’s unconventional COVID vaccination-inspired campaign has been making the rounds across the internet this week. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based agency created a truck billboard ad for a fake funeral home called Wilmore Funeral Home with one simple and attention-grabbing line: “Don’t get vaccinated.” The truck drove around for six hours during the Panthers vs. Saints tailgate this past Sunday.

It might not seem like it on the surface, but the ad is a pro-vaccination message with the billboard promoting a site for the fake funeral home that features a “Get vaccinated” button with the following line: “If not, see you soon.” 

“We came up with the idea internally and linked WilmoreFuneralHome.com to StarMed,” Mary Gross, associate creative director at BooneOakley, told Ad Age. “StarMed has vaccinated more people in Mecklenburg County than anyone else. They were the obvious choice to partner with. When they saw the idea, StarMed decided to work with BooneOakley on this pro-vaccination message.”

Following the stunt, StarMed has seen a 22% increase in vaccine appointments compared to last week according to Gross, who says the agency has gotten calls from several different cities requesting the truck at football games and events.

“Everything you see promoting the vaccine is very straightforward,” Gross continued “The message ‘Get vaccinated’ doesn't seem to be working, so we felt like it was time to try something different.”

JP Petty is promoted to ECD of W+K Portland

Wieden+Kennedy has promoted JP Petty as its news executive creative director for its Portland office. Petty, who was named Ad Age’s Creative of the Year, previously served as head of social W+K’s New York office, Under Petty’s stewardship the New York office’s social team has been a part of some memorable work such as helping Bud Light to create a new role at the company—chief meme officer—promoting hard seltzer with self-deprecating humor and a blunt admission that “our memes are trash.” More than 1,000 people applied for the position on the first day. 

The team also helped McDonald’s create the “McClap” emoji collages thanking healthcare workers in the early days of the pandemic. The effort, which mirrored the 7:00 p.m. applause in many cities around the country, saw positive engagement on Twitter five times higher than average for the brand.

Petty will join Ana and Hermeti Balarin who recently joined W+K Portland as executive creative directors after serving in the same roles at Mother London.

Salvation Army names an AOR

The Salvation Army USA has named Dallas-based Lerma/ as its agency of record for next-generation advertising, public relations, and digital fundraising efforts, following a competitive review led by SRI Consulting. The charity had formed a national agency search committee earlier this year composed of leaders from its four U.S. territorial headquarters, national headquarters, and national advisory board.

“We believe the more we understand the lived experiences of those we are reaching out to, the better chance we have of striking a chord with them in an emotional and personal way,” Pedro Lerma, principal and founder of Lerma/, said in a statement. “The Salvation Army represents the good that exists in all of us, and we are honored to play a small role in helping this amazing organization serve more people during this historic time in our country.”

In 2020, The Salvation Army served more than 30 million people who sought local assistance from their 7,300 service centers. The brand will look to use the agency’s cross-cultural capabilities to help it “more effectively partner with audiences of diverse backgrounds, passions, and beliefs,” according to a statement by the Salvation Army.

Sinfully good

Blizzard has partnered with 72andSunny Los Angeles to create two celebrity-centric films promoting the remastered version of the popular game title "Diablo II: Resurrected," which was originally released 21 years ago. The campaign entitled “The Second Coming” stars award-winning actors Simu Liu ("Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings") and Winston Duke ("Black Panther") who enter a gothic church to confess their sins. 

However, instead of confessing sins, both ask the priest for permission to sin for different reasons. Blizzard brought on director Daniel Sackheim, who has also worked on shows like "True Detective," "Game of Thrones"," and "Lovecraft Country," to direct the two films.

VMLY&R hires two new ECDs

VMLY&R has appointed Cinzia Crociani and Emily Sander as exec creative directors for its New York office. Crociani has spent more than 15 years working and leading multidisciplinary teams globally. She joins from McCann New York where she led its Mastercard North America account.

In her new role, Crociani will focus on Campbell's Snacks brands including Pepperidge Farm, Snyder’s of Hanover and more; EmblemHealth; as well as new business and support on a range of accounts across the agency’s New York office.

Sander has over 18 years of experience in the industry. She most recently led Edgewell brands at MullenLowe US. 

Making dogs stronger

To celebrate National Dog Week, Champion Petfoods has teamed up with TDA_Boulder to promote the launch of its Acana High Protein Biscuits, the brand’s first entry into the biscuits segment. 

The 30-second spot shows two people talking about the new pet food offering while one of their dogs is shown in the background easily pulling and dragging a playground across the park, seemingly because the dog’s owner has been feeding it the new high-protein snacks.

“Biscuits are also known as ‘treats’ and we want pet parents to understand Acana High Protein Biscuits as enhancing a dog’s physical well-being vs a reward or indulgence,” Jonathan Schoenberg, exec creative director and partner at  TDA_Boulder said in a statement.

BBH USA hiring spree

BBH USA has brought on 11 new hires for its creative department. The news follows the recent promotions of President Amani Duncan; Chief Creative Officer Rafael Rizuto; and Chief Strategy Officer Tom Callard, who now oversee BBH USA, which was launched in July after uniting the New York and Los Angeles offices, as well as BBH Entertainment. See the full list of the hires below:

Valeria Vanzulli, creative director, who was most recently a creative director at Joan Creative.

Francesca Bonomi, creative director, previously an associate creative director at Joan Creative.

Amy Travis, creative director based in Los Angeles, who has been a copywriter at several agencies including Pereira & O’Dell, BBDO San Francisco and R/GA.

Bobby Selby, associate creative director, who was previously a senior art director with VaynerMedia.

Gary Van Dzura, group creative director, who was a creative director at Wieden+Kennedy for over 12 years, where he developed creative for Fox Sports, Jordan, Sprite, ESPN, Duracell, Bud Light, Equinox and more.

Adolfo Alcala, group creative director, who previously held a creative director position at 72andSunny.

Matt Vitou, creative director based in New York, who was previously associate creative director at Lyft.

Alex Sprouse, creative director who’s previous role was creative director at the nonprofit Potential Energy Coalition.

Jack Hwang, senior art director, joins from Forsman & Bodenfors, where he was also a senior art director

Sofia Coelho, junior art director, was previously an Art Direction Intern at Ogilvy, and has also worked for Vice Media in Austria and Par Mais in Brazil.

Isabella Ciardelli, junior copywriter, previously held a copywriting residency at TBWA\Media Arts Lab and a copywriting fellowship at Swift Agency. 

Meet Angry Butterfly

A trio of industry vets have officially opened the doors of Toronto-based creative consultancy Angry Butterfly. Brent Choi will be partner and CEO, after serving as CEO and chief creative officer at DDB Canada. Erin Kawalecki, who had been an executive creative director at DDB, takes the post of partner and chief creative officer, while another former DDB colleague, previous VP-Head of Strategy Graham Candy, becomes partner and chief strategy officer.

The company has been working under the radar for the last nine months and has a mix of clients such as Campari, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Canadian Tire, Capilano University, Bally’s Gaming and Entertainment, Spirits Canada, Boston Pizza, WW and AutoIQ, for which it just debuted a new campaign. 

The new company’s name, Angry Butterfly, reflects its approach, which Choi says combines “anthropology, artistry and agility” to address the complex challenges of modern-day clients. Kawalecki added, “We like to say our job is to create beauty out of chaos.”

Helping out the Afghan refugees

R/GA has coordinated with the United States government to create Welcome.US, a group dedicated to helping the roughly 65,000 Afghans forced out of their home country that are now making the U.S. their home. The project brings together top refugee organizations, the government, and major businesses like Airbnb, Instacart, Microsoft, Starbucks, and Walmart to engage with Americans on how to help with resettlement efforts for Afghan refugees. 

The project is also a combined effort among former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama—along with former First Ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama. The group will also provide grants to non-profit organizations and fund a six-figure ad campaign to highlight the need for Americans to support the Afghan refugees.

People and businesses can find out how they can support through donations, volunteering, sponsorships, and more by going to the website.

Calling all Tongsmen

Sausage brand Johnsonville, which is the official sausage of the Southeastern Conference, has teamed up with Milwaukee-based agency Hold Fast Co. for its latest campaign.

The new campaign features the Johnsonville Titanium Tongsman contest, a virtual sausage grilling contest where two finalists will be selected and flown to Atlanta for a pre-game grill-off at the SEC Championship Game. The integrated campaign also consists of 30-second and 15-second TV and radio spots, social videos, public relations, influencer marketing, and local activations.

“The Tongsman label is a genuine badge of honor that combines a coveted pastime with a true passion for perfection.,” David Dugan, founder of Hold Fast Co. said in a statement. “We wanted to cultivate that distinction, inviting Southern Tongsmen to flex their expertise through some healthy competition while enabling like-minded consumers to revel in and replicate their sausage-grilling prowess.”

Just briefly

Joan has brought on Cheri Anderson, who will take on a dual role, leading Joan Studios as managing director and head of production for the Joan Creative agency. These are newly created roles and follow the departure of Daniel Marin, who previously was president of Joan Studios and left to pursue other opportunities, according to a spokeswoman for the agency.

Lightning Orchard has brought on Jenn Pennington as its first-ever head of production. Previously she held positions at Anomaly, most recently serving as an executive producer.

Ogilvy has appointed Arlene Armenteros as general manager of Ogilvy Miami. She previously served as senior VP, head of client services at República Havas.

New York-based agency Big Spaceship, has named Chris Huban as its newest exec creative director. Huban is taking on this newly created role after serving as the global design lead for Spotify Advertising. He will be responsible for envisioning product and brand experiences at the agency.

Nike Communications has appointed Jeffries Blackerby, formerly editor-in-chief of Departures and Centurion Magazines, as its senior VP, a newly created role. His clients will include Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Miraval Resorts & Spas, Gurney’s Resorts, among others.