Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Shut It Down

See a scam? Shut. It. Down.

CMS asked for a campaign that shows seniors how to stay vigilant, avoid Medicare number scams, and tell their friends to do the same. Evil scammers tend to think that seniors are an easy target because they don’t have the know-how to stop scams in their tracks. Our strategy was to create a campaign that put seniors at the center, but not as the victim – as the bold, powerful, confident hero. Our heroes are informed of Medicare scams, know how to shut them down, and now they’re going to spread the word in their community…always with a spoonful of sass.

tv + digital campaign / role: art direction, design

:30s TV spot

The biggest piece of the campaign was the 30-second tv spot. I was assistant AD for the spot, overseeing development of storyboards and assisting with casting, wardrobe, location scouting, and director selection. (I was also the passenger-seat-DJ, which I feel is extremely important to note.)

It was important to show our seniors in a relatable environment so our audience could see themselves in the bold, confident actors. We chose friends gathered in the kitchen, teammates catching up after a ball game, and a mother video chatting with her extremely proud daughter. Although quick, the dialogue reinforced how to shut down those scams, with all the savvy, sassy attitude 30 seconds could fit.

Photography Library

My main role on set was photography direction. I worked with the spectacular photographer Pete Barrett and together we captured 20 images of our actors in several poses, completing a robust collection of images to be used in future Shut It Down campaigns. Example ads with photography below.

Say No to Scammers

Wanna see Shut it Down’s origin story? Say No to Scammers (below) was our previous campaign and eventual evolution to Shut it Down. Similar to the above spot, our goal was to make sure our audience connected to the ads long enough to absorb the CTA.

Government agency digital ads are booooring. We decided to change that. No more confusing walls of text, no more stock photos of bewildered grandmas. For Say No, we chose photography of objectively cool seniors and paired it with a sassy, well-known sayings to create brightly colored, slightly tongue-in-cheek ads.

It was the best performing campaign in years.

digital campaign / art direction, design

the sassy team: creative director (art): Ben Mahler / creative director (copy): Chuck Thompson / producer, pure ray of sunshine: Danielle Rodriguez / copywriter (Say No campaign): Ruth Aitken