Have you seen those social media videos featuring your friends and neighbors wearing masks and flexing their muscles? Maybe you noticed a local landmark powered up with bright, colorful lights? If you have, I hope it inspired you to be MASKED AND MIGHTY!
What is MASKED AND MIGHTY?
MASKED AND MIGHTY is a coalition of health care and education partners from across Santa Barbara County who have joined forces to save lives, reduce the spread of COVID-19, reopen more businesses and schools, and maintain access to vital health care.
Elements of the MASKED AND MIGHTY include a positive advertising campaign, self-taped public service announcements, “Power Up” Santa Barbara County, and bilingual educational materials created for parents and teachers.
How did the coalition come together?
MASKED AND MIGHTY is based on the highly successful Strive for 95 campaign, a grassroots effort and community-wide coalition founded by Dr. Dan Brennan and Dr. Steve Barkley in 2014 that resulted in increased local vaccination rates through a positive public awareness messaging.
Planning for the MASKED AND MIGHTY campaign began in the spring of 2020 with the goal of creating positive and nonpolitical messaging to encourage behaviors that would reduce the spread of COVID-19 throughout the entire county.
Through a series of socially-distanced, Zoom planning sessions, the diverse MASKED AND MIGHTY coalition, comprised of infectious disease specialists, pediatricians, health care leaders, teachers, superintendents, education leaders, marketing experts, public health and county officials, worked together to craft a creative campaign to crush the COVID-19 curve.
What does it mean to be MASKED AND MIGHTY?
Geared for audiences of all ages, and translated into English and Spanish, the MASKED AND MIGHTY campaign uses local imagery and local residents to engage all Santa Barbara County communities with messages about the importance of MASKS and the MIGHTY super powers that physical distancing and good hygiene can have to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The coalition hopes that our collective community efforts will help Santa Barbara County progress through the colored COVID tiers, allow schools to operate under safer conditions, restart more kids’ activities and help to reopen our favorite local businesses.
MASKED AND MIGHTY encourages all residents to stay at home as much as possible, avoid large gatherings and gatherings with people who don’t live in the same household, but when you do have to go out to please wear a face mask, practice good hygiene and observe physical distancing of at least 6 feet.
Components of the MASKED AND MIGHTY campaign
The MASKED AND MIGHTY marketing team created a brightly colored, bilingual and positive advertising campaign designed for all ages. It also maintains two websites, MaskedAndMighty.org and EnmascaradoYPoderoso.org.
Advertisements feature local residents and local imagery intended to engage all Santa Barbara County communities with the positive messages that “MASKS MAKE US STRONGER” and that we each possess mighty super powers such as good hygiene and physical distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The media campaign will include countywide television, print, radio, digital and outdoor media.
MASKED AND MIGHTY is also creating a series of public service announcement videos in both English AND Spanish to encourage residents of Santa Barbara County to wear masks, follow safety guidelines and reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Members of the public are encouraged to create and share their own messages about why they are MASKED AND MIGHTY by recording their own 30-second video on their mobile device and sending it to masked@sansumclinic.org. Script ideas and self-taping suggestions are available at MaskedAndMighty.org and EnmascaradoYPoderoso.org.
Students have already created their own MASKED AND MIGHTY PSA Video Challenge. Dos Pueblos High School even launched its own school spirit video contest with prizes.
Power Up Santa Barbara County
From Oct. 27 to Nov. 7, super powers came together to “Power Up” landmark buildings across Santa Barbara County with bright multicolored lights to highlight our community’s commitment to reducing the transmission of COVID-19.
Rather than use a single color, the coalition decided to “Power Up” using multiple colors because Santa Barbara is a diverse community and is looking forward to a brighter future!
All local businesses were encouraged to “Power Up.” Current Powered Up locations include:
» Cottage hospitals in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Santa Ynez Valley
» Sansum Clinic branches at Pueblo, Pesetas Lane, Hitchcock and Carpinteria
» CenCal Health
» UCSB Henley Gate
» County buildings in North and South County
» Dos Pueblos High School
» Orcutt City Schools
» KEYT and Lobero Theatre will project campaign logos onto the side of their buildings
Santa Barbara County residents were encouraged to “Power Up” their own homes by swapping out their porch bulbs for something more colorful.
Colored lightbulbs and floodlights were stocked locally at Home Depot in Goleta and Lompoc, Home Improvement Center in Santa Barbara, Miner’s Ace Hardware in Nipomo and Lowe’s in Santa Maria.
Families and businesses were encouraged to share their “Powered Up” images on social media with the hashtag #MaskedAndMighty. MASKED AND MIGHTY social media accounts are set up as “Masked and Mighty Coalition” on Facebook and “Masked_and_Mighty_Coalition” on Instagram.
MASKED AND MIGHTY educational campaign
MASKED AND MIGHTY will also provide COVID-19 educational resources in both English and Spanish.
A Discussion Guide is available on its websites for teachers and parents who wish to engage in conversations with students about the best ways to protect against COVID-19.
For younger children (and adults who like to color), MASKED AND MIGHTY coloring pages can be downloaded and printed. Artists are encouraged to post their colorful artwork posted to the social media accounts.
Who is already part of the MASKED AND MIGHTY coalition?
Charter members of the MASKED AND MIGHTY Coalition include the County of Santa Barbara, Sansum Clinic, Cottage Health, CenCal Health, the Central Coast Medical Association, the Lompoc Valley Medical Center, the Lompoc Valley Pediatric Care Center, Marian Regional Medical Center, Santa Barbara City College, the Santa Barbara County Education Office, the Santa Barbara County Promotores Network, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, school districts throughout Santa Barbara County, UC Santa Barbara and Westmont College.
Businesses, schools and other organizations are invited to join the campaign or request MASKED AND MIGHTY posters by emailing masked@sansumclinic.org.
Let’s all join forces to be MASKED AND MIGHTY
By using our MASKED AND MIGHTY super powers, our county can continue to move through the California COVID tiers and allow more schools to operate safely, restart kids’ activities and reopen more local businesses.
So please do your best to stay at home as much as you can, avoid large gatherings and gatherings with people who don’t live in the same household, and when you do go out, please observe physical distancing, practice good hygiene and be MASKED AND MIGHTY.
— Dr. Dan Brennan is a board-certified pediatrician at Sansum Clinic who hopes we will all work together to slow the spread of COVID-19 by being MASKED AND MIGHTY. Please contact Dr. Dan at 805.563.6211 or visit www.sbpediatrics.com.
