Pfizer’s new COVID-19 booster ad starring Martha Stewart is both rather odd and strangely compelling to watch in a definitive departure from its previous conservative vaccine commercials. The 30-second spot, “Unwelcome Guest,” features Stewart in her beautifully perfect kitchen calmly sharpening a massive Samurai sword. As sparks fly, she says, “You know that unwelcome guest everyone wishes would leave already? That’s COVID-19.”
The ad discusses how the updated Pfizer shot protects against the so-called omicron variant.
Martha then effortlessly lops the top off a poor unsuspecting pineapple and drops it in the garbage, slipping her shirt down her shoulder, flashes a blue bandage, and asks in her best “thirst trap” voice, “Got it?” The whole vibe of the spot is “Kill Bill” meets “Top Chef.” Stewart is both charming and vaguely menacing throughout. The direction is clean and beautiful, so all these disparate themes somehow work—at least entertainment-wise.
The goal of the spot is to motivate the viewer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccines.gov site.
