Anti-Vaccine PSA

We have all heard about the anti-vaccination movement and more recently how there was a measles breakout in Disneyland of all places because of it. While most of us agree that this is completely ridiculous and that there is no reason to not vaccinate, it is still a big issue.

Recently, Jimmy Kimmel had a segment of his show dedicated to talking about the anti-vaccination movement. This was a great example of entertainment-education. The skit was funny as he joked around about it and equivocated not vaccinating your child to letting them smoking cigarettes. He understands that no one is going to take medical advice from a talk show host even though they did take it from forwarded emails and Jenny McCarthy, but he has real doctors come onto his show to give a public service announcement.

This skit was pretty brilliant to me. Jimmy mentions how the anti-vaccination movement is pretty big in Los Angeles right now which is where his show is filmed. His show is very big in the US and probably pretty big in LA as well. Therefore, it is certain that people who believe in anti-vaccinations as well as people who know someone who believes in it will be watching. His videos tend to go viral as well, with this one having nearly 4.5 million views on YouTube right now. Chances are, this is a message that will spread. Anti-vaccinators are going to avoid the typical places that you would see this message, but they are not expecting it on a talk show, therefore it's a pretty great, unsuspected way to get the word out there.