I love the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. It conveys so much in so few words.

Recently, I was listening to a radio program that was focusing on Public Service Announcements. (PSA.) It involved teenagers, Ed Sullivan, conspiracy theories, Elvis Presley, and a picture. How could I not go down that rabbit hole!

In the 1950s, polio was running rampant. It was a paralyzing disease. As an aside, my Dad contracted polio as a youngster. He was lucky. It affected his legs, and one was permanently shorter than the other, resulting in a mild lifelong limp.

Then, in 1954, Jonas Salk developed a vaccine that proved highly effective. New York City decided to launch a campaign aimed at increasing the percentage of the population vaccinated against polio. Success! Over 900,000 residents received the vaccine. New polio cases dropped to nearly zero!

Enter Walter Winchell, an American syndicated newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator.

He claimed that the vaccine might cause deaths without any supporting information. This fueled fear among the group most at risk of contracting polio, teenagers. So, guess what, they stopped getting vaccinated. Teenagers’ vaccination rate dropped below 1%.

The result: Approximately 35,000 new cases among children each year.

What to do!

Authorities needed to inform these teenagers about the truth regarding polio vaccination. 

Enter Elvis Presley, whose career was soaring into the stratosphere after a performance on Ed Sullivan’s variety TV show on Sunday nights.

So, before the Ed Sullivan Show began, he and Ed rolled up their sleeves in front of the press and publicly received their polio shots. Elvis distributed one particular photo to every part of the country. Afterwards, a recording of Elvis delivering the message was circulated with a direct plea to get vaccinated.

Within six months, the vaccination rate among the youth of America was 80%.

The power of that one picture saved the lives and high quality of life of millions of young Americans.

This made me think about our current times and the measles outbreak. What would happen to vaccination rates if a celebrity such as Taylor Swift opened her show with a polio vaccination campaign?

Please give this a bit of a think. The example I gave was what most would consider a positive picture. But what if current-day conspiracy theorists showed a YouTube video of them getting a vaccination – but played the video in reverse with the simple words on the screen, “It can’t be undone. Don’t get vaccinated.”

Do you know of a picture that had a profound impact on you? The image still sticks in your mind, years later.

I am curious about your thoughts. Please comment below or send me an email with your bit of a think.

Photo by Glenn Walmsley: A line of bronzed shoes by the Danube, symbolizing just a few of those who were shot at the water’s edge for being Jewish. 

Inspired by the episode “A Moment I’ll Never Forget: The Power of PSAs, from Under the Influence with Terry O’Reilly

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glenn.walmsley@icloud.com