Campaign helps children to 'wave Corona goodbye'

As Britain prepares to take its first tentative steps out of lockdown, it's time to teach children how to wash their hands properly

Before the UK headed into lockdown, hand washing was ingrained in the collective consciousness as a way to stay one step ahead of the virus. The government 's campaign became a mantra amongst the population: “Wash your hands more often, for twenty seconds”. But after almost two months of staying at home the hand washing​ message has begun to fall away. Now that Boris Johnson has urged the country to take its first tentative steps out of lockdown, it is clear that if we are to return into society, people must get back to washing their hands - not only often, or for longer, but the correct way - and a new campaign has set out to teach children to do exactly that.

In an address to the nation from Downing Street on 10 May, Johnson said some schools in England might be able to open next month, starting with the youngest age groups. Teacher unions raised concerns over the impossibility of expecting children as young as five to maintain social distance, or to not share books or toys, meaning proper hand washing is vitally important. Step forward creative agency 20something who have launched an animated nursery rhyme called “Wave Corona Goodbye” to help.

You can watch the song here. Created to the tune of “Round the Mulberry Bush”, covers the essential elements needed to ensure hands are washed thoroughly to the NHS standard, accompanied by an animated pair of hands carrying out the actions. Elliott Starr, Senior Copywriter at 20something, says "hand washing is integral to any step to successfully emerge from lockdown. While we created “Wave Corona Goodbye” primarily for children, the lyrics and actions are just as useful, and important for us adults.”

Credits

Creators- 20something

Animation – Sam Barcham,

Producer – Julia Methold

Music supervised, arranged and recorder by SixtyFour Music

Some things are changing faster than others in the 20s. New ways of working. New attitudes. New systems. 20something is a creative company set up to explore these. Strategy. Brand. Design. Advertising. We plug in. We plug out. We remove silos.

We started 20something so that we could offer expert creative resource at a budget that brands can actually stomach.

We are on a mission to put more of the client’s budget into the work and less of it

into the processes that go around it.

Because that’s where the return is.