I am not sure what week we are in the lockdown. Every day seems to move into the next. I am hopeful that will change soon, and we will all get back to some sense of normalcy. Not sure what normalcy means but hopefully the economy will open back up and industries around the globe will come back to life. I don’t know for sure when this will happen – nobody does – it seems like however every day we are getting closer.
That being said one aspect of the new normal seems to be littered with advertisements on just how much car companies, restaurants, service industries, and practically every company seems to care about all of us. These companies are “in it” with us and want us all to know that they are here to help, want to give us good deals and to know that during this difficult/unprecedented time, we can all rest assured knowing that whatever we need is available and at better than ever prices with amazing financing deals. I forgot to mention that national pizza chains like Papa Johns, Little Caesars, and Dominos have found a way to get us through this time by offering no touch deliveries. I know this because it seems that every ad regardless of what I am watching on tv or binging for that matter, is about the new normal of zero percent financing and how I can get a pizza without any human contact. It is very impressive that Madison Avenue has created and delivered what appears to be hundreds of ads from everything from how long to wash one hand – Dove soap to rebates for auto insurance – Farmers. The list is endless. Gone are the days of pharmaceutical ads during the nightly news – I watch NBC by the way – these have been replaced with ad after ad from company after company about being in this together with all us. I guess it is nice that all these companies care about all of us but this onslaught of ads is really strange to me. At least it seems in these folks on Madison Avenue have figured out a way to stay busy during this extremely difficult time. Don Draper would be proud of his fellow Mad Men.
THINGS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY:
Well, you clearly know how I feel about the Corona Virus ad blitz. But once again, I have to complain about the spamming from every company and industry under the sun about how they are here for me, you and everyone during the shutdown. Email after email from company after company is just so annoying. To handle this onslaught, I have decided to check email less frequently and invoke the spam/junk button more aggressively than ever. Someday, when this is all over someone will author a paper on just how bad a marketing idea it is to spam people during a pandemic. Hopefully, that day comes soon.