Hey, Marketers, Read the Room
How Walmart and Popeyes Chicken became case studies in how not to advertise during a crisis
During the worst pandemic in history, marketers are at a loss. Frankly, they should be.
Now is not the time to put out a sales message or anything resembling one. The economy is tanking, retail stores are closed, and nearly 10 million Americans have just lost their jobs. The only things people — note that I do not say “consumers” — care about buying right now is food and toilet paper.
Evidence of how flummoxed marketers are can be seen in the advertising created during the initial onset of this crisis. Numerous advertisers redesigned their logos in an attempt to promote social distancing. McDonald’s separated its arches. Audi unlinked its rings. What was the point of that? What consumers need right now is information. Redesigning logos doesn’t provide knowledge—it increases confusion, especially when you consider that people are seeing these images as they rapidly scroll through social media. Will they really think “social distancing” when they see these logos? I doubt it.
A twist on this utterly self-serving practice are commercials that thank workers under the auspices of the brand. The perfect example of this is Walmart’s ad honoring its workers with David Bowie’s…
