The producers of hit Fox animated series "Family Guy" teamed up with the Ad Council to produce a public service announcement that advocates for more people to get Covid-19 vaccines.
The 3-minute short was written by the show’s writers in collaboration with showrunner Seth MacFarlane and a team of scientific experts and epidemiologists. MacFarlane voiced all four characters — Peter, Stewie, Brian and Dr. Hartman — featured in the clip.
In the clip, Peter Griffin and Dr.Hartman discuss the Covid-19 vaccine as Peter sits on the exam table. Infant Stewie then takes over the narrative and teleports with canine Brian into Peter's bloodstream, where the baby explains how vaccines train the body to fight infection.
"As of now billions of Covid vaccines have been administered safely to people around the world," Stewie tells Brian, as they float in Peter's plaque-filled arteries.
Stewie explains both how both viral vector and mRNA vaccines work to train the body to fight infections, saying this helps the body learn how to fight the disease without ever being exposed to the actual infection.
"But even more importantly, if the virus is allowed to spread through an unvaccinated population it could mutate into a variant that the vaccines might not protect against — and then we're right back where we started again: Gal Godot singing 'Imagine' — we cannot let that happen!"
The ad was "designed to educate, entertain and encourage the millions of unvaccinated citizens around the globe to feel confident getting vaccinated against COVID-19," according to a news release from "Family Guy."
“With millions of Americans still unsure about getting vaccinated against COVID-19, it’s more important than ever that we have smart, informative and entertaining messages like this that will boost confidence in the vaccines,” Lisa Sherman, president and CEO of the Ad Council, said in the release.
“This new work from Seth MacFarlane and the team at ‘Family Guy’ is bringing critical vaccine information to audiences in a fresh and hilarious way that will surely inspire people to take the next step in slowing the pandemic."
The short is part of the Ad Council's "It's Up To You" campaign to promote uptake of the Covid-19 vaccines.
