With the COVID-19 numbers spiking in the US, it’s clear that people aren’t following some of the most basic preventative measures, including wearing a face mask. Of course, without getting into the political weeds too much, you can probably chalk up a lot of this anti-mask sentiment to the President’s vocal disapproval of masks. But regardless of how we arrived at this situation, it’s the reality we live with in the US. And in New York, the state’s leader, Governor Andrew Cuomo, is teaming with some Hollywood heavyweights to encourage people to “mask up.”
In a series of PSAs being released in New York this month, the state is trying to encourage folks to wear face masks with the “Mask Up America” initiative. The new ads are all produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow and Tribeca CEO Jane Rosenthal. They include a number of big stars all trying to get New Yorkers to wear masks, including Robert De Niro, Kaitlyn Dever, Jamie Foxx, Morgan Freeman, John Leguizamo, Anthony Mackie, Rosie Perez, Ellen Pompeo, and Jeffrey Wright.
“New Yorkers suffered gravely when this pandemic hit our state and as we see other states battle the surge of COVID-19, we want to be sure all Americans know what we know here – that it is essential to wear a mask in order to protect one another,” Governor Cuomo said. “We can only beat this virus if we are united as one, not divided by ideology or politics. In that spirit we worked with the best and most creative team to deliver this vital message in multiple ways and in different voices – I wear a mask to protect you and you wear a mask to protect me. It is as simple as that. Mask Up America.”
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There will be eight total ads running through the month of July. You can watch the first two below, featuring narration from Morgan Freeman and Jeffrey Wright, respectively.