By Leader Editor Kara Apel
Photos of what appears to be a funeral home truck encouraging people not to get vaccinated have taken the internet and social media by storm.
The sign on the truck reads, “Don’t get vaccinated” and shares a link to WilmoreFuneralHome.com. When users visit the website, they see a message saying, “Get vaccinated now. If not, see you soon.”
Photos of the truck have prompted articles from news agencies across the country, including CNN and CBS News.
It turns out, Wilmore Funeral Home is entirely fictional, and all of this was a stunt orchestrated by an advertising agency in Charlotte, NC. Photos were shared by bystanders who saw the truck as they walked to Bank of America Stadium for a Carolina Panthers football game.
According to Yahoo Life, the advertising agency partnered with StarMed Healthcare to spread awareness about the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations.
The Wilmore Funeral Home website links back to StarMed’s website and includes information on the vaccine and details on how to schedule an appointment. The healthcare company reportedly saw vaccination appointments increase by 22% in just one week.
An employee of the ad agency said this to Yahoo Life: “We are all about disrupting the marketplace, that’s our specialty. We started talking about, well, what’s the other perspective on this? Who is benefiting from people not getting vaccinated? As morbid as this is, the reality is funeral homes are benefiting because a lot of unvaccinated people are dying. The facts are there. We’re not making it up.”
