Ryan Reynolds, BK and Jack Daniels Lend a Hand

Ryan Reynolds Left Voicemails for All Mint Mobile Subscribers

In a voicemail that began popping up on the phones of every Mint Mobile subscriber on Friday, the cell carrier’s star owner Ryan Reynolds announced a new Unlimited Data For All plan to help folks out during the coronavirus pandemic.

Read more: The Deadpool star is well-known in the marketing world for his ad stunts for both Mint and Aviation Gin, which put his trademark brand of dry, self-deprecating humor front and center.

Burger King Advertises a Quarantine Whopper You Make at Home

Advertising in the quarantine era is no simple task. Burger King France has boldly stepped up to the challenge with an ad from Paris agency Buzzman, “Le Whopper de la Quarantine,” or “Quarantine Whopper,” which shows an array of store-bought ingredients that the chain’s fans can use to approximate a Whopper at home.

Read more: Burger King global CMO Fernando Machado says what’s most important during this time is that brands respond to the crisis in substantive ways.

Related: Burger King and Popeyes announced that employees will get 14 days of paid sick leave if they are diagnosed with COVID-19 or exposed to the virus.

New Jack Daniel’s Ad Toasts Social Distancing—and Connection—During Coronavirus

With a rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” serving as the background, this Jack Daniel's spot from Energy BBDO features user-generated content of real human interaction. All of the footage was edited to illustrate the importance of social distancing, but still manages to retain the spirit of togetherness.

Read more: The brand’s parent company, Brown-Forman, also announced a $1 million donation to COVID-19 response funds.

More Brand Initiatives to Help Out During the Pandemic:

Keep up with real-time updates, news and cancellations impacting the advertising and marketing world in our coronavirus tracker.

IOC Sets New Dates for Postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics

The Summer Olympics, postponed last week as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, have been rescheduled. The Games—which will still be called the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020—will take place from July 23-Aug. 8, 2021.

Read more: Postponing the Olympics will have a massive impact on Comcast’s NBCUniversal, which began marketing the event in 2018.

Several of Spring’s Biggest Cable Series Delayed Due to COVID-19

Some of cable’s biggest and most anticipated shows this spring have been postponed until at least later this year, as networks grapple with production shutdowns, a major upheaval in advertiser spend and concerns about what could happen to their content pipeline if production doesn’t resume soon.

Read more: Fargo and AMC’s Walking Dead spinoff World Beyond are among the shows seeing delays.

As Coronavirus Squeezes the Ad Industry, Local Publishers Are Feeling the Pain

Publications at the local level—alt-weeklies and newspapers—are starting to feel the squeeze of coronavirus. These are the business models on the front lines of tragedy, and they're being left without the desperately needed advertising dollars from local businesses that are now forced close.

Read more: Despite numerous challenges, some local news organizations are seeing an uptick in digital subscriptions. But will it be enough to save them?

Here’s Some Good News in the Coronavirus Crisis: Agencies Are Still Hiring

Many fear there will be widespread disruption for existing talent and for those seeking to enter the agency world for the first time. Yet agencies still have open positions, so The One Club launched a job board for both employers and job seekers. Currently, it holds around 175 open positions around the world, covering all aspects from creative (including production and design) to operations.

Read more: Learn how to find and post open jobs on the board.

Havas New York Makes Wellness Part of the Work-From-Home Routine

Havas New York has built a series of programming to help keep creatives—and anyone else who’d like to join in—growing mentally and spiritually while working remotely. The Creative Consciousness initiative attempts to address an industry-wide issue of agencies chasing growth at the expense of talent, contributing to low morale, lagging productivity and a high turnover rate.

Read more: The initiative is an evolution of programming the agency has been rolling out over the past two years.

Frito-Lay tapped technology firm Zyper to select a few members to invite to an exclusive fan club. Abby Nierman, one of the few chosen to be a member of Frito-Lay's digital Snack Society, advocates for the brand on social media including TikTok and Instagram.

Read more about this highly targeted engagement strategy and the logic behind it.

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Self-proclaimed ad junkie Gene Paek has creativity in his blood. Raised by an artist and an engineer, Gene was fascinated by the intersection of imagination and technology. Now, in his role as Global Head of Digital Experience and Innovation at HP, he’s leaning into corporate goodness and a new, interactive way for online gamers to experience products from home.

Sharing experiences on working from home during coronavirus.

First online-only Fader Fort will raise funds for music charities.

Frankly, we’re doing a disservice to our younger generation in terms of inclusion.

It also shows how we respond in a crisis.

Some have started fulfilling their own orders.