If you haven’t already seen the state of Ohio’s social distancing PSA featuring ping pong balls, which has now been viewed tens of millions of times on various social channels in the past day, watch it.


The concept, which owes a nod to the 1957 Disney Film “Our Friend the Atom,” is clear and concise and eminently shareable, even if the metaphor isn’t exactly right; the point is that it’s persuasive and digestible.

Once you’ve watched it take a minute to enjoy some of the behind-the-scenes details from Real Art, the Dayton company that made the spot, including this gem on how the final shot was captured.


This article appears in Apr 8-14, 2020.

Vince Grzegorek has been with Scene since 2007 and editor-in-chief since 2012. He previously worked at Discount Drug Mart and Texas Roadhouse.

2 replies on “The Behind-the-Scenes Details of Ohio’s Ping-Pong Ball Social Distancing PSA Are Almost as Good as the Spot Itself”

  1. This PSA makes zero sense. Are the balls people? Are the balls the virus? Are the traps people with the who have the ball viruses? Why would introducing the virus make the other viruses go off?

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