Quote of the Week

“I want to touch you while there is still time to touch you.”  Later: My Life at the Edge of the World, by Paul Lisicky

Can a pizza oven kill the COVID-19 virus?

This is not a question that was posed to a top medical expert such as Dr. Fauci. It appeared in television commercials by Domino’s and Papa John’s reminding viewers that the heat of pizza ovens annihilates germs. Other companies are using footage of happy families receiving their take out and contentedly consuming it while staying at home. This tack to promote more than their product is an attempt to make the company appear to the viewer that they are providing a health service announcement a “stay home saves lives but you can enjoy our product none-the-less” message.
So what’s going on here? It’s a whole new category of advertising, coined “disasterizing” where companies try to appear as the good guys, helping you to stay safe. The smarmiest ones I’ve encountered are the ones that come on with soft music, footage of front line workers, messages about our “heroes”, than at the end you see their logo and realize it was all a sneaky promotion for their brand.
The best of the lot are the ones that don’t hide behind such tactics. They come right out and broadcast what they are doing as a company, be it giving donations to various causes, PPEs to healthcare workers, or elaborating on how they are keeping their workers safe.
It’s jarring to see this change in direction by advertisers, usually so optimistic about their products as a means to improve lives or grant happiness, now forced to acknowledge that the situation in America has turned terrible and dangerous. What they are trying to do is to persuade you that giving them your money is an act of solidarity. They are trying to cash in on the “We’re all in this together” slogan that we hear so frequently.
With the ability to search for what ever you want and order it via an ap or the internet why even have ads? A recent survey by the data company Morning Consult discovered that people don’t mind ads during the pandemic. The survey asked participants what they’d prefer to see in ads during the pandemic, and among the eight options listed, by far the most popular choice was ads that explain how companies have changed their services. Explicit information about safety procedures was also among the top requests. However, in that Morning Consult survey, it was also discovered that people under 40 were more likely than their older counterparts to think advertising should cease entirely during the pandemic, but they also generally responded more positively than older people to recent ads that struck a useful, empathetic tone.
Also our economy, which is sorely hurting, needs companies to produce those ads. If advertisers stopped showing ads, there could be a domino affect radiating economic harm out to lots of working- and middle-class people who have little or no direct connection with advertising itself. In past recessions it was discovered, companies that maintained their communications presence had an easier time recovering when the economy stabilized.
So will ads of any type help us to get through these trying times safe and happy or is it all just snake oil to get you to part with your money? Are viewers really convinced by all the hype to the their products? Who knows for sure. But at least for now, some of the grating, boring, ads are gone, replaced with something new. I personally just wish that the coronavirus would stop killing people and turn to killing ads!

Quote of the Week

“…can we be content to be a flashlight in hidden corners, a streetlamp enlightening a beloved’s dark walk of faith, a glowing candle of peaceful security? Being a small light reminds us that we can then do what the sun can never do – illuminate the night.” Sr. Bridget Haase, O.S.U.

The Pandemic Creates a New Word

We’ve all seen the ads on tv or listened to them on radio, companies who start out with praising our “heroes”, talking about protecting us, or advising us on what to do in order to remain safe. Then at the end you see their logo or hear their name and realize it was just another ad. Here is the definition I’ve come across that’s been created for this sly way to promote products in the pandemic days:
disastertise—to contort a simple message about drive-through lanes or beer delivery to paint a company as public servants during an extraordinary moment.
My next posting will elaborate on this and how it’s just another trick to get you to buy their products.