Thursday 6 October 2022 03:46 PM Your friendly neighborhood PFIZER-MAN: US pharma giant partners with Marvel trends now
Pfizer has partnered with Marvel to create a comic book to urge people to get their Covid booster vaccines and be an 'everyday hero'.
The PR stunt comes amid a sluggish autumn jab rollout that has seen less than one in 20 eligible Americans receive their Omicron-specific shot.
The plot of the new comic centers around a grandfather waiting for his jab at a clinic that comes under attack by the Avengers villain Ultron.
Ultron — a maniacal robot that constantly evolves and comes back stronger — is used to represent Covid, which is constantly mutating into new strains.
Captain America arrives at the scene and is pushed to the brink of defeat before Iron Man — who is supposed to represent Pfizer's new jab — arrives with a brand-new cannon that blasts Ultron into the sky.
The grandfather tells the reader that even superheroes have to keep 'adapting' to fight off Ultron — a clear reference to the updated vaccines.
Pfizer said the comic book has been released to encourage people to 'protect themselves' by 'staying up to date' with their Covid jabs.
It comes as officials plead with Americans over 50 years old to get their second booster jabs.
Just 7.6million Americans have got the new bivalent vaccine that works better against the dominant Omicron subvariants so far.
Pfizer has released a Marvel-themed story to explain how its Covid vaccine works. It features a grandfather and his family who get a Covid vaccine (bottom), the Avengers who represent the Covid vaccines (middle) and Ironman (in red, shown above) who represents the new Covid vaccine, and Ultron (top left) who represents Covid's evolution
The grandpa was
Publishing the comic book yesterday, Pfizer said: 'When Ultron wreaks havoc, the Avengers act as the first line of defense.
'People can help protect themselves by staying up to date with Covid vaccinations.'
The comic be viewed online on the Marvel website. It is not clear how much Pfizer paid for the promotion.
The story begins with a grandfather waiting at a Covid vaccine clinic with his family when a news alert flashes on the television screen that Ultron has returned.
Explaining how the villain mirrors Covid, the grandfather says he 'keeps changing and evolving' so the Avengers — who represent Pfizer's jabs — 'keep adapting and re-strategising'.
The comic book then shows the Avengers — who mirror each of Pfizer's shots — doing battle with Ultron.
But they struggle to beat him — because he has 'evolved' — leading to the fight coming to just outside the vaccine clinic.
But in the nick of time Ironman — who represents
