Smitty Bop answered his government’s call — and masked up to convince people who trust him to do the same.
Smitty — the stage name of Michael Smith, a rising New Haven rapper — saw his masked visage in the sky next to Ikea this weekend.
It was one of three billboards Ikea began displaying in rotation by Long Wharf and I‑95 to support city government’s Covid-19 “Mask Up” campaign.
The city administration tapped eight social “influencers” of color to pose wearing masks in an effort to spread the word in black and brown communities that covering faces in public can help slow the spread of the coronavirus and save lives.
The city has prepared eight influencer billboards in all, a couple of them in English and Spanish-language versions. The city’s arranging with a firm called Outfront Media to post them all in coming weeks on other donated billboards around town.
The Elicker administration has sent plenty of official messages to people throughout town, in the form of text messages, robocalls, press events, website and social-media postings.
But it also recognizes that not everyone trusts the government, said mayoral spokesperson Gage Frank and city arts chief Adriane Jefferson, who are behind the “Mask Up” campaign.
Smitty was one of those doubters.
He partied with abandon (and posted about it repeatedly on social media) during Spring Break in Florida when Covid-19 hit in March. “At first I thought the corona thing was a fluke. Just a way for the government to have control and power over people,” he said.
Then he started hearing about people he knew getting sick and in some cases dying. “It hit home” hearing it from people he knew, he said.
So he was pumped to sign on to the city’s billboard campaign. WNHH FM’s Michelle Turner, WYBC’s Juan Castillo, Chatham Square organizer Lee Cruz, and other artists and activists with name recognition and credibility signed on as well.
Thomas Breen Photo
“When it comes to using influencers, it’s really important because it establishes trust. There are a lot of peple in the community who aren’t going to listen to the government. Information will pass by them. This campaign gives it a trend appeal. People start to pay attention,” Jefferson (pictured) said in an interview Monday.
“It’s amazing how people are coming together. We’re in this together; we’ll get out of this together.”
Photographers Leigh Busby and Donnell and Tiffany Stewart of Align with Us agreed to take the photos for free. (Some of the billboard images are displayed on this page.) Ming Thompson and Keith Appleby agreed to design the logo. (Click here for an in-depth story on the genesis of the campaign, by the Arts Paper’s Lucy Gellman.)
All those donations have enabled the city to spend no more than $100 per billboard, according to Frank.
Influencers help spread the word not just by lending their images to billboards, but by then spreading the word among their social-media followers, Jefferson said.
Indeed, as soon as Smitty Bop learned about his billboard going up on Long Wharf, he began sending photos and video to his 6,375 Instagram followers and 3,780 Facebook friends, some of whom followed up with their own posts.
Smitty was buzzing.
“Growing up I always had two dreams. One dream was to be on a billboard in my city,” he said.
The second dream?
“Being chased in the mall. I had to be escorted out.
“Now that I got one dream, it’s time to work on the next dream!”