With coronavirus being such a sensitive subject, it can be challenging for brands to decide which direction to take with a new advertisement or campaign, especially when having to form it in such a short space of time,but that doesn’t mean to say brands should be staying silent… in fact, quite the opposite; now more so than ever, it’s important that brands look to stand-out among the crowd by conjuring up some clever, eye-catching campaigns which will win the hearts of consumers and boost brand image.

In this blog-post, we take a moment to admire 5 of the cleverest and most eye-catching Covid-19 reactive campaigns that we have seen thus far.

Guinness - 'Stay at Home' campaign

The Guinness Stay At Home Campaign provides us with a perfect example of how simple, stripped back marketing can be the most compelling of all! Why? Well, at a first glance, consumers viewing this ad may actually perceive this image to be a pint of Guinness! This is thanks to a clever combination of black background, top position of the cream sofa and the signature harp logo which works as an illusion without taking away the key message which is for consumers to stay at home – genius!

Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine – #ArtOfQuarantine Campaign

The ‘Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine’took the saying ‘life imitates art’ to a whole new level with their#ArtOfQuarantine campaign which saw a selection of classical art pieces become transformed into humorous, yet highly educational posters that teach people howto stop the spread of COVID-19 and stay safe.

Burger King – Social Distancing Whopper

Burger King – otherwise known as the bad boys of fast-food advertising - have once again hit the nail on the head with their  hysterical ‘Social Distancing Whopper’advertisement which jests that the whopping smell of triple onions will be enough to make anyone stay away and social distance!

Despite this humorous tone, Burger King has in fact taken social distancing and staff/consumer very seriously by investing in a high-level of covid-19 specific staff training. Plus, the brand is also only operating a delivery/drive thru and service at this time.

Aangan - #EndLockDownViolence campaign

On the flip-side to Burger King’s humorous campaign, we have a moving and emotive campaign from Aangan which addresses a real-life issue -domestic violence: a threat that has sadly significantly risen in many countries that have had to go into lockdown over the period of the pandemic.

The subtle scar on the forehead of the lady which sits beside the emotive, indirect text about the threat of domestic violence call for the viewer to read on to the subtext which outlines more detail about domestic violence in lockdown, and most importantly, directs those suffering to a help-line.

KFC – We’ll take it from here campaign

Following on from their first lockdown initiative which saw the brand share its famous chicken recipe, KFC have now launched a cheeky, new campaign which puts the spotlight on those that have attempted to recreate KFC chicken at home. At the end of the jesting video advert, KFC then go on to reassure viewers that they’ll ‘take it from here” as they prepare to re-open 50% of their UK stores.‍