President Joe Biden enlisted the help of popular Instagram account @dudewithsign in the White House’s latest attempt to encourage young people to get vaccinated.
The account @dudewithsign shared a photo of Seth Phillips, the man behind the account and Biden posing in front of the White House with cardboard signs promoting vaccination to his 7.5 million followers on Instagram. Biden also posted the photo to the @potus account as a Story, which has 18 million followers.
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Biden’s collaboration with @dudewithsign is part of the White House’s strategy of using celebrities and influencers popular with young people to encourage vaccination.
This comes with the rise of the Delta variant and young people remaining the least vaccinated age group. As of this week 55.9 percent of 18 to 24 year olds have received their first dose and 42.1 percent of 18 to 24 year olds are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Vaccination rates for people ages 12 and up are even lower. The CDC reports that only 43.7 percent of people ages 12 to 15 have received their first dose of a vaccine with just 31.3 percent fully vaccinated. Additionally, 53.4 percent of 16 and 17 year olds have received one dose, with 42.1 percent of that age group being fully vaccinated. The CDC recommends “everyone 12 years and older should get a COVID-19 vaccination to help protect against COVID-19.”
Phillips and his account gained popularity on Instagram for posting images of himself holding cardboard signs protesting relatable everyday problems like “Walk faster” and “I miss Vine.”
However, working with @dudewithsign is also a bit controversial. Phillips is a creator for the controversial Jerry Media which was behind the marketing for Fyre Fest in 2017. Jerry Media is run by Elliot Tebele, best known as the person behind the @fuckjerry Instagram account. That account has 15.9 million followers and posts funny tweets and memes. There have been calls to cancel @fuckjerry for both their role in promoting Fyre Fest and for making money by posting stolen content.
And of course @dudewithsign isn’t the first social media star the White House recruited to promote vaccination. In July pop star Olivia Rodrigo visted the White House and met with Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci about the importance of being vaccinated. Rodrigo posted a picture of her and Biden with a caption encouraging her 15.8 million followers to get vaccinated.
Additionally, Facui has doing Q&As with YouTubers and TikTokers. On August 10 he met with five influencers that target Millennial moms and Gen-Z teens.