Moderna’s Jeopardy! Second Chance Tournament (Moderna and Hearts & Science)
When the perceived urgency of COVID-19 fell and vaccine hesitancy rose in the U.S., Moderna needed to find a platform to speak to an at-risk (adults 50+) audience, informing them of the benefits of a bivalent booster. But, Moderna and Hearts & Science also understood they needed to take a careful approach. Vaccines are a delicate and personal subject with a lot mistrust around misinformation and skepticism over side effects and efficacy. So, they needed a message to promote confidence and vigilance, in a soft, palatable manner.
Given their audience’s love of Jeopardy!, they created the Jeopardy! Second Chance tournament, which for the first time ever welcomed back 18 fan favorites from Season 38 who came so close to winning, but couldn’t pull it off. Additionally, the winner of each week would be sent to the following Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.
Throughout this competition, Moderna wove in timely reminders on the continued importance of boosters and mRNA vaccines. Beyond on-air mentions and logo signage throughout the tournament, they integrated key messaging around the booster into the show’s “Clue For You” segment. Airing at the end of the Double Jeopardy! round, this consisted of a stand-alone modular segment with a customized clue/response written in the style of the show’s iconic game clues.
As a result, they delivered timely booster messaging to their target audience, averaging 7.6M viewers throughout the 10 episodes. One of our judges declared, “Flawless execution in style to meet the mark with primary target. Bravo!”
