#StayAtHome – How an NHS marketing campaign went viral and saved lives

When news of Coronavirus first hit UK headlines, in January, very few among us really believed that it would have anywhere near the impact it’s had on our lives. Even at the start of March, the nation was very much divided with boasts of “business as usual” and a belief that if you’re not old or ill, it didn’t matter. Even when the government advised those who could to work from home, and asked the public to avoid restaurants, bars and cafes, still many didn’t listen.

It took the NHS themselves to step in and ask for people to cooperate for opinions to change. As a nation we weren’t prepared to stay at home for ourselves (or for our elderly neighbours) but we were willing to do it to protect the NHS and those compromising their own safety for us. And that’s thanks in part to the powerful message NHS staff have put out there.

In a campaign that was shared by hundreds of thousands on social media, was a video message from the respiratory team at the Belfast Health Trust.

Perhaps what’s most powerful about this video is the emotive language behind pleas like “if you choose to stay home you WILL save lives”, or “We’re frightened. Please help us. Please stay at home.”

Or maybe it’s the social distancing they’re practicing, or the eery silence in what would usually be quite a loud and busy setting.

For me, it’s the fact that these people, despite working extra shifts, foregoing breaks, and being put under a lot of stress, have given up their own spare time to create this video. Because they are compelled to get such an important message across and need us to listen.

A similar message was spread widely on LinkedIn held up on signs but frontline workers: “We stay here for your, please stay at home for us.” It’s a message that reaches out to our gratitude for the NHS to evoke us to take action. The language also does a brilliant job of emphasising really how little we’re really being asked to do.

I think it speaks volumes that many in society were failing to listen to advice given out by the government, but a heartfelt, coordinated and consistent message from our beloved nurses and doctors, was enough to change the public’s entire perception.