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Polio Vaccination (Ad Council, 1958-1961)

Uptake of the Salk vaccine was slow, so the U.S. Public Health Service, the American Medical Association and the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (March of Dimes) asked the Ad Council to persuade Americans under 40 to get vaccinated. The campaign was renewed when 1959 data showed polio cases among people who had not finished the three-shot series.

Years
1958–1961
Country
United States
Topic
Vaccination
Asks people to
Start
Strategy
Simple instruction
Channel
OutdoorPrintRadioTV
Audience
AdultsParents
Americans under 40; parents of children.

Evidence

Self-reportedUnknown

The Ad Council says repeated advertising got 80% of the at-risk population fully immunized. AEF reports inoculations rising to 91.1 million by April 1960, from 79 million a year earlier. These are sponsor figures with no comparison group, and no independent evaluation was found.

Sponsor (who paid)

  • Ad Council Ad Council (pro bono), campaign producer
  • National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (March of Dimes) NGO, sponsor
  • American Medical Association NGO, sponsor
  • U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare / Public Health Service Federal government, sponsor

Credits (who made it)

Sources

  1. Polio (1958-1961) (ANA Educational Foundation) history
  2. Eisenhower, Statement by the President in support of the drive for polio vaccinations (17 May 1958) archive · 1958
  3. Polio (Ad Council classic campaigns page) sponsor
  4. Our History (Ad Council) sponsor
  5. 13/2/217 Ad Council transit and bus shelter advertising (finding aid PDF; lists Polio) archive
  6. Ad Council Historical File, RS 13/2/207 (University of Illinois Archives finding aid) archive

Research notes

Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: Young & Rubicam (Ad Council Historical File RS 13/2/207, 'Stamp Out Paralytic Polio' files dated April 1958 to April 1961 catalogued 'Young & Rubicam'; two earlier files from November 1957 and 1958 name no agency). Corrected 2026-10-22: volunteer agency added. An AEF listing snippet that named 'Harrison Maldonado and Associates' sat next to a different entry and is not used. Polio transit cards are in RS 13/2/217 (finding aid PDF linked). Illinois Archives retrieval: RS 13/2/207 Historical File, box 78 folders 3-7 and box 153 folders 5-6. Other candidate series are 13/2/204 Campaign Listings 1942-92, 13/2/218 Campaign Posters 1942-90, 13/2/214 Television PSAs 1963, 1971-92, 1997, 13/2/219 Campaign Files 1966-2004 and 13/2/280 Campaign Video Recordings. Links (#82) checked 2026-10-23: Ad Council pages from the Wayback Machine (adcouncil.org's old campaign pages), the Our History timeline or its case studies; dead campaign sites point to a Wayback copy from the campaign years.

Record cases/ad-council-polio-vaccine.json, updated 2026-10-23· Link to this campaign