DAYTON, Ohio — There is a lot of information out there regarding the coronavirus. Digesting everything we see and hear can be confusing, and sometimes conflicting. So to create a better understanding on how social distancing works to stop the spread of the virus, the Ohio Department of Health tabbed Dayton-based creative firm Real Art to make a PSA.

• Dayton-based creative agency Real Art created a 30-second PSA on the importance of social distancing
• The video uses 500 mousetraps and ping pong balls as a representation of how fast the coronavirus can spread without social distancing
• The PSA is being shared like wildfire on social media, which makes Real Art very proud to know their message has been well-received

The video shows 500 mouse traps next to each other — with ping pong balls balanced on top of them.

And when one rogue ball drops in, it sets off a chain reaction, —representing how fast the coronavirus can spread between people if we don’t follow the social distancing guidelines.

“Everyone is flooded with COVID-19 news, so we wanted to try and do something that would break through and get people’s attention,” Real Art Design Director Andy Nick said.

He said the idea for the video came together in just about a day. But pulling the concept off was no easy task.

“Within literally like 24 hours we were moving from this is just and idea to, let's drive all around greater Dayton to find all the mousetraps we could find,” Nick said.

They gathered all the materials and shot the video at Dayton Live, which generously opened the space for the video. And as you can imagine, it took a long time to successfully set up 500 mousetraps. Nick said they had one setback on the first day of shooting.

“Around 1 p.m. I did cause a chain reaction with the traps that I didn’t mean to do,” he said. “It was terrifying and then depressing because I was like, how much time did I just lose? So we had to hustle and throughout our first eight-hour day we only got one shot in.”

But with their four-camera setup, they were able to capture the initial sequence in one take.

And the second sequence, when social distancing is applied, went off without a hitch. And For Nick that’s the big takeaway.

“The message, the PSA portion, the bigger picture metaphor — that was always the goal — to make sure the direction to maintain social distancing and to illustrate that, hey this works,” he said. “That was really the conclusion and the part that made this go from something that’s kind of fun to watch, to something that made people think a little bit harder and drove that message of the state back to the public.”

The video is being shared on social media like wildfire and Nick said he’s thrilled to see such a positive response.

“To make something that really resonates, not only with the Ohio crowd, but the nation, this is the perfect project to get that kind of attention. So we’re really pleased,” Nick said.

And for a creative company from Dayton, their creativity and pride really shows the quality of the Gem City.

“We love it when our big cities come to us and say, ‘hey, can you think of something that’s really gonna mean something to other parts of the state and other parts of the nation? That’s just something that I think Daytonians have running through their DNA. And so to be on the forefront of that, and build something that the world hasn’t seen before, that’s just kind of part of who the Gem City is,” Nick said.