The $250 million federally funded effort had aimed to ‘defeat despair, inspire hope’ on pandemic

“A federal health agency halted a public-service coronavirus advertising campaign funded by $250 million in taxpayer money after it offered a special vaccine deal to an unusual set of essential workers: Santa Claus performers,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“As part of the plan, a top Trump administration official wanted the Santa performers to promote the benefits of a Covid-19 vaccination and, in exchange, offered them early vaccine access ahead of the general public, according to audio recordings. Those who perform as Mrs. Claus and elves also would have been included.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/health-agency-scraps-coronavirus-ad-campaign-leaving-santa-claus-in-the-cold-11603630802