Truly Nothing Can Prepare You For Johns Hopkins' 'Mario Kart'-themed Vaccine Booster PSA

After COVID-19 vaccines hit the scene, myriad organizations and governments have tried their hand at encouraging the public to get vaccinated through humorous means. Granted, some campaigns have been sillier than others, but there has truly been nothing quite like the Mario Kart-themed PSA put out by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health this month.

Please enjoy the emotional whiplash of the video in all its glory:

There's evidence that a booster dose reduces a person's likelihood of being infected with SARS-CoV-2.

That's super like Mario, but less likely doesn't mean impossible.

In general, boosters reduce symptom severity and duration, and reduce transmission: https://t.co/rF2sQBDdNM pic.twitter.com/x1ybm0bCXy

— Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (@JohnsHopkinsSPH) January 13, 2022

Clearly, a meme-maker with a surprising amount of FinalCut skill was put in charge of this. The video starts out with Mario preparing to race on a Mario Kart 8 track, with the "3-2-1" countdown that precedes every race replaced by the words "Let's. Get. Boosted!" The race starts and our hero begins to move through the track. But what's this? A red shell is tracking our beloved Mario. However, it's not a red shell, it's Omicron chasing Mario to the tune of the “Oh No” TikTok sound. Luckily, Mario approaches a literal boost pad (labeled "Booster") and is able to stop Omicron with a banana, then rides off into the sunset with Deal With It sunglasses while “Smoke Weed Every Day” by Snoop Dogg plays.

This is a lot to process, and though the video was posted on January 13th, it began hitting Twitter timelines this week as users were left mouths agape, with many claiming it was the epitome of cringe.

the editor was held at gunpoint.

there's just no fucking way. https://t.co/h3aQuMCs0T

— JOLLY J✨ (@DynamoSuperX) January 26, 2022

This shit is making my entire soul come out of my body like a fucking vacuum cleaner somebody please help me https://t.co/CctnoBo1xt

— Sergio (@SergioRatio) January 26, 2022

My sincere condolences to the video editor that was forced, at gunpoint I presume, to make this viscerally unfunny piece of shit https://t.co/HqSyqzwKbF

— VoidBurger (AKA Jess) 🍔🎮 (@VoidBurger) January 26, 2022

Mario in the COVID Cup driving away from the Omi item is not what the fk I expected today💀 https://t.co/APEVHcBbWI

— GamesCage – Hype Guy (@OnTheDownLoTho) January 25, 2022

The video undoubtedly rubbed many the wrong way, but there were some users who felt differently about it, seeing it not as "cringe," but as potentially the best video on the internet.

This is an absolutely phenomenal, informative and important shitpost https://t.co/mQD8ObK5bV

— Jay (@Chxinsawenby) January 26, 2022

this is based actually. god bless who ever caffeinated the editor of this video https://t.co/PEBqQIfSzP

— new year new min (@agoodmintality) January 26, 2022

this is the best fucking video on the planet rn https://t.co/u0jLHzqcKI

— shiadyne (@shiadyne) January 25, 2022

This is actually an amazing tweet https://t.co/qqKMhED3Wd pic.twitter.com/RlEjw3mePH

— SuperRAD 🍋 (@SuperRADLemon) January 26, 2022

However you may feel about this video, it's undoubtedly one of the weirdest pieces of public health messaging ever created and opens the door for more video game-themed or meme-related medical PSAs in the future. Imagine a Super Smash Brothers PSA where Dark Samus shoots a ball of COVID at Palutena, only for her to use her booster (reflect mechanic) to shoot it back and kill Dark Samus at 40%. Based.