Radio DJs #DropTheBeatOnCovid

In early 2022, radio personality DJ Big Boi of Panama City, Florida, station 99.3 posted a message on Facebook about contracting COVID-19: “Mild symptoms! Very mild. Thank God for the shots!!!! I’ll be broadcast from home this week.” LEAD Coalition of Bay County, Inc. saw an opportunity and asked Big Boi to put his testimony on a billboard in the city. He agreed, and his message – “Thanks to the COVID Vaccine I survived COVID!” – was the beginning of a series of collaborations with LEAD to combat misinformation being spread about COVID-19 vaccines.

One of the most successful campaigns, #DropTheBeatOnCovid, was designed to reach teens and young adults. The messages were promoted over the social media platform TikTok, and two live TikTok events were held with DJ Big Boi and Panama City native DJ Dap on the WWLD Blazin 102.3 station in Tallahassee. Hundreds of live viewers listened to the DJs talk about vaccine facts, myths, and misconceptions in between music sets, and the recording earned seven thousand likes on TikTok.