Maybe it's just the folks I follow on Twitter, but there seems to be a lot of dismissiveness when it comes to how brand marketers are handling Covid-19 and the quarantine era.
I mean, yeah, those ads that start with "in these uncertain times" are pretty forgettable and questionably useful beyond showing that you did...something. But most advertising is generally forgettable, and today's inoffensively lame Covid-19 advertiser was yesterday's inoffensively lame everything-else advertiser.
I have to wonder, are these "every ad is bad" critics seeing the creativity coming out of quarantine? With no big production budgets and star-studded shoots to fall back on, marketers haven't faded quickly into obscurity. Some of them are downright thriving.
Newest case in point: State Farm's fantastic promo for ESPN's The Last Dance. Putting the idea of deepfakes to good use (for once), the collaboration by ESPN CreativeWorks, Translation and Optimum Sports created a fake SportsCenter broadcast from 1998 that seemed to eerily predict the documentary series—along with the butt fumble, much to every Jets' fans chagrin.
The ad required no traditional shooting, yet sparked massive conversation in the brand's favor as soon as it aired.
And that's just one example. We recently listed 10 other ways brands are getting creative with their production workarounds. There are even more in the links below, plus more coming in Adweek each day.
Yes, there are dumb ads out there. There are always are. But don't let the mediocrity and cloying anthems distract you from appreciating what's happening right now with creative innovation amid uncertainty and severe limitations.
And if you're a client, creative leader or boss of any kind, make sure you're thanking the teams behind these great ideas, too. These are tough times. They need to hear it.
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com
