Amid Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, Governor Cuomo Announces Winners of Wear a Mask New York Ad Contest

Two Winning Videos - "We Heart New York" Created by Bunny Lake Films and "You Can Still Smile" by Natalia Bougadellis and Emory Parker - Will Run as Public Service Announcements

600 Video Submissions, 186,000 Votes Cast

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the winners of the Wear a Mask New York Ad Contest - "We Heart New York" created by Bunny Lake Films and "You Can Still Smile" by Natalia Bougadellis and Emory Parker. Both winning videos will run as public service announcements and can be viewed here.

The contest, which was launched by the Governor on May 5th and overseen by his daughter Mariah Kennedy Cuomo, asked New Yorkers to create and share a video explaining why New Yorkers should wear a mask in public. The state collected more than 600 video submissions from across the state, and there were 186,000 votes cast in the contest.

"We launched the Wear A Mask New York contest to help spread the word about the importance of wearing a mask, and frankly this contest generated much more energy and excitement than I even anticipated," Governor Cuomo said. "The tremendous level of participation demonstrates that people understand that a mask can be the difference between life and death. This is about their lives and this is about their community, and they're engaged -- because they are New York tough, smart, united, disciplined and loving."

"We asked New Yorkers to create ads about the importance of wearing a mask in public, and we received over 600 video submissions from across the state," Mariah Kennedy Cuomo said. "Congratulations to our winners and thank you to everyone who submitted ads, who voted, who shared ads, and helped spread this important message that it's absolutely critical to wear a mask in public. And we'll be continuing to reach out to New Yorkers for help in spreading the message about how we can get through this together because New Yorkers are clearly ready, willing and able to help."