The city of Chicago has launched a series of lighthearted public service announcements starring Mayor Lori Lightfoot to encourage residents to stay home amid the coronavirus crisis.
The videos are running days after Lightfoot shut down the Lakefront Trail and admonished Chicago residents who flouted Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order. City officials are launching the videos as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Illinois climbed to more than 5,000 on Monday, with 73 reported deaths.
In total, the ads feature 12 separate segments with Lightfoot at home. In one, the mayor traces the words “stay home” onto a tray of baking powder. In another, Lightfoot strums a guitar and sings, “Stay home, save lives.”
Lightfoot takes a phone call from her daughter, Vivian, in another ad, where Vivian shouts, “Mom! I’m bored!”
“You’re not bored!” Lightfoot responds. “You’re saving lives.”
Lightfoot, an avid sports fan with White Sox season tickets, watches the final out of the 2005 World Series and makes a bet with the viewer.
“Tell you what, if my White Sox win, you’ve got to stay home,” she says, and as Juan Uribe throws to Paul Konerko for the final out, she pumps her arms in celebration.
In another, she admonishes friends on the phone: “Getting your roots done is not essential! Your dog doesn’t need to see its friends. You can work on your jump shot inside.”
Not all the ads are funny. In the darkest clip, Lightfoot looks into the camera and says, “The truth is, 40,000 hospitalizations will break our health care system.”
The PSAs were produced for free by Havas, a Chicago advertising firm, Lightfoot’s office said.
On Monday, Lightfoot also commented on the internet memes that depict her enforcing the state’s stay-at-home order and clearing citizens from the public way, which she said she loves.
Last week, Lightfoot also told the Tribune she’s a fan of a viral video showing Italian mayors yelling at citizens for not obeying public health orders, including one who threatens to send police to crash graduation parties with a flamethrower.
