N.B. government's out-of-character Instagram post has people talking

It's not your typical government of New Brunswick messaging.

But a video post on the gnbca Instagram account is getting a lot of attention for that very reason.

The video, depicting a series of eye-boggling "battles" between Omicron and the booster shot and set to Vanilla Ice's Ninja Rap, has voguing dancers as the booster facing off against a variety of hapless characters as the variant. (Spoiler alert: the booster shot slays, every time.)

The video, an edited version of a TikTok video by Best of Vogue, features added captions and a one-sentence message: "Get your COVID-19 booster. Book now at www.gnb.ca/bookavaccine."

It's a striking departure from the account's usual feed, which typically features charts explaining winter-plan restriction levels, posters illustrating mask guidance, reminders to obey speed limits and occasional photographs of New Brunswick landscapes.

"We wanted to do something fresh, something people would notice," Adam Bowie said in an email.

"Since people aged 18 years and older are now eligible for COVID-19 booster shots, we wanted to think outside the box to reach people within such a broad age range."

It appears that gamble paid off.

Followers of the account immediately began remarking on the unusual material, many of them expressing surprise and delight.

"Social media team deserves a raise for this one," one follower commented.

"GNB has no business doing something this fire," another wrote.

"This reel has single handedly convinced me to move to New Brunswick. Give the creator of this a raaaaaaaise!!!!!!

Others commented on the hat-tip to inclusivity, given that the Black, gay and transgender community is widely credited with the creation of voguing as a dance style.

"Something LGBT just happened to me," one commenter said of the gnbca post.

It has also drawn "lots of positive feedback" from other provincial and territorial governments, the Atlantic Lottery Corp. and others who applauded the team's creative efforts, Bowie said.

So, given the success of this post, with more than 2,000 likes as of Friday afternoon, can followers of the gnbca Instagram account expect to see more of this kind of content?

Bowie didn't explicitly say so, but he suggested it might be hard to argue against it.

"We're glad people are talking about it, and hopefully having a conversation about the importance of getting boosted," he said.

"With over 100,000 plays, and close to 9,000 shares at this point, we feel we've hit the mark."