Who’s behind the “Don’t get vaccinated” ad stunt?

Driving the news: A black truck was seen making rounds near Bank of America Stadium on Sunday as people made their way into the game. The provocative message on the truck read “Don’t get vaccinated” in white text and appeared to be an advertisement for Wilmore Funeral Home.

• A tweet featuring an image of the truck has received thousands of retweets since it was shared on Sunday.

Spoiler alert: The advertisement did not come from a local funeral home — in fact, Wilmore Funeral Home doesn’t even exist.

The advertisement was actually created by advertising agency, BooneOakley. “We were trying to think of some messaging to put out there that would be provocative and that would make people think of actually going and getting the shot,” founder David Oakley tells me.

• Upon going to the Wilmore Funeral Home website, the home screen has a message that reads “Get vaccinated now. If not, see you soon.”
• The plot twist? By clicking on the “Get vaccinated now” button, page visitors are redirected to StarMed’s vaccination page.

Partnering with StarMed — the local health care company that’s vaccinated thousands and known jokester of Charlotte Twitter — was a no-brainer, Oakley says.

The bottom line: Oakley says if the marketing tactic convinced one person to get vaccinated, then it was worth everything that was put into it.

[Related story: Why a health care company is subtweeting South End]