"Friday the 13th" movie series villain Jason Voorhees has been turned into an advocate for wearing facial coverings to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, starring in a public service announcement aimed at New York City residents.
The ad begins with Jason sitting alone on the steps of the main branch of the New York Public Library at 42nd and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
From there he walks around adorned in his Jacques Plante-style, face-hugging fiberglass hockey mask, that faded from use in the NHL in the 1980s – without the chainsaw or machete he used in the films at the fictional Camp Crystal Lake, nonchalantly scaring pedestrians.
A narrator, presumably Jason, explains: "It's not easy — the mask makes people uncomfortable.
"I know, the whole chainsaw thing, I get it," he adds. "But the thing is, behind the mask, I'm a regular guy."
Frustrated, Jason is apparently about to give up his quest to make friends when a little girl wearing a blue surgical paper mask walks up and offers the slasher murderer a mask like hers. He puts it on – over the hockey mask.
The PSA ends with the text: "Wearing a mask can be scary. Not wearing one can be deadly."
The Ogilvy ad agency created the spot, the New York Post reported, saying in an Instagram post where it previewed the ad that many New Yorkers are still refusing to wear masks, especially younger people. It rhetorically asks how to engage them and answers its own question by writing: "Tap into pop culture and entertain them."
The "Friday the 13th" movie franchise debuted in 1980 and spawned 11 sequels, a TV series, novels, comic books, video games, and assorted affiliated merchandise.
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