Elvis Presley appeared on national television getting vaccinated against polio, shifting public acceptance from 1% to 80%. Health officials used his celebrity to rebuild trust after early vaccine trials caused severe side effects and sparked widespread fear.
In the '50s, polio vaccine was being developed and they screwed up. Did you know this? When the first time, the first round developing polio vaccine, they actually screwed up and there were people dying from the vaccine. Oh, it sounds scary. So they're like, oh, we gotta fix this. So when the vaccine was fixed and perfected, they're like, well, we can't just tell people to take it now. So what did they do? They rallied the herd. They got an advocate. An early adopter, none other than Elvis Presley, to go on national television to receive his polio vaccine, telling everyone that this is cool, it's safe to take now. And this is what happens. Before Elvis, 1% wanted to do it. After Elvis, 80%.
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