Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Stop Scams

See a scam? Shut. It. Down.

CMS asked for a campaign that shows senior folks 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 senior folks at the center, but not as the victim – as the bold, powerful, confident hero. Our heroes are informed of Medicare scams and know how to shut them down, and now they’re going to spread the word in their community…and always with a spoonful of sass.

Role: art direction, design

:30s TV spot

The biggest piece of the campaign was the 30-second tv spot, shot in the middle of Covid, in the winter, in Miami…easy! I was asst. 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 hero seniors in a relatable, natural environment so our audience could really 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. When looking through many government-based social ads, we noticed a trend: jargon-y copy, super outdated stock photography and an overall drabness. We decided to flip it. No more confusing walls of text, no more stock of bewildered grandmas. For Say No, we chose photography of objectively cool seniors and paired it with a sassy, well-known sayings (“I wasn’t born yesterday!”) to create brightly colored, slightly tongue-in-cheek ads. It was the best performing campaign in years.

role: art direction, design

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