As the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing stretch into yet another month, many people are at their wit’s end with one particular aspect of the crisis: the commercials. Many companies have made note of the coronavirus pandemic in their latest ads, while some even seem to have rushed to get a commercial up that mentions it. The result has been some of the most sappy commercials breaks in TV history — and they do not always land.
Twitter is filling with more and more complaints about coronavirus commercials — where companies pay deference to the virus currently raging through the U.S., then explain what they’re doing to help. The result is the same as any other commercial: It tries to persuade you to buy what the company is selling. Along the way, however, these ads have really brought the mood down for the TV-watching public. Even more than usual, people seem to be fed up with being pandered to in advertising.
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It makes sense that some advertisers might be hesitant to run a light-hearted TV spot during this global catastrophe. With death tolls around the world still rising and millions of people out of jobs, they’d be ignoring the elephant in the room if they did not acknowledge that the economics of February no longer apply to almost everyone.
Still, viewers are being constantly inundated with these more somber ads day after day, and at this point it is becoming hard to take a single one of them seriously. With the coronavirus pandemic expected to continue for some time, hopefully advertisers will find another way to acknowledge the emergency without remaking the same TV spot over and over again. Here is what Twitter is saying about the coronavirus commercials these days.
Parody
COVID-19 commercials be like pic.twitter.com/WneZDSEHUP
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 29, 2020
Too Many Ads
love tuning into some television to see approximately 800 ads with sad music saying shit like ‘in these uncertain times, we care about you and your family. that’s why papa johns is delivering the new PAPADIA straight to your door’
— lucy valentine (@LucyXIV) April 25, 2020
Escapism
Dear companies who buy tv ads,
— Nicholas (@NicholasOfMKE) April 22, 2020
We are all painfully aware that we are living during a pandemic. We are watching tv as a form of escape, so your sappy commercials about how we are all in this together aren’t creating the warm feeling toward your brand you’re hoping for!
Insincere
Am I the only one disgusted by all these giant corporations that never cared about anything other than money putting out commercials talking about how much they care about “the people?”
— Ron White (@Ron_White) April 27, 2020
Filming Questions
bro all these companies are making commercials about how concerned for our safety they are during this pandemic and the actors are portraying social distancing… but in reality are not practicing social distancing to film the commercial lmao lmao
— NAGA KANYA (@ThaDalaiMama) April 27, 2020
all these commercials about quarantine filmed DURING quarantine… i got questions…
— GLASS HOUSE 🩸 5.1.20 (@GabbieHanna) April 28, 2020
Sad
COVID-19 ADVERTISING HAS BEEN SO ANNOYING DLSKSKSKSKSK ALL THE COMMERCIALS ARE SO SAD
— DOJA (@FKA_Johnny) April 29, 2020
Normal
These sappy “we’re all in this together” commercials are getting on my last nerve. I need normal commercials again.
— Virtual Sped Teacher (@superspedteach) April 26, 2020
Is anyone else completely over the sappy voices on TV commercials about the ‘difficult times we’re going through?’
— Ann 🕊 (@Doodisgirl) April 23, 2020
Just me?
Ok good 😂😂
