https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/how-advertise-pandemic/610456/

Over the past two months, the "abrupt pivots to the pandemic in television commercials, social-media posts, and marketing emails have been hard to ignore," says Amanda Mull. "It’s jarring to see advertisers, usually so optimistic about their products as a means to improve lives or grant happiness, forced to acknowledge that things in America are broadly terrible. Some viewers have noted an unsettlingly similar solemnity across brands’ pledges to protect and serve their clientele. Others have found comfort in the commercials’ shoddy earnestness; if America’s salespeople have no choice but to share in everyone’s uncertainty, then maybe the country is mostly united after all. Together, these ads reveal a pandemic dystopia with a particularly American twist. With unpredictable government-aid coffers, most companies that want to remain solvent through an extended catastrophe will have to master the precarious, high-stakes art of disastertising. To do it, they’ll need to persuade you that giving them your money is an act of solidarity." ALSO: To be fair, advertising anything right now is a high-wire act (https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-04-23/coronavirus-tv-ads-burger-king-charmin-dodge-uber).

These types of commercials have been around since the 60's and I think they have become popular just as the classic This Is Your Brain On Drugs commercials were in the 80's but when tragic disasters happen you see commercials that they tend to hype a lot more. Like for example when 9/11 hit there were tons of commercials that got way too much airplay and when Hurricane Katrina hit the same thing happened with Hurricane Katrina themed commercials. And now anytime you turn on the TV you see commercials with slogans such as "Don't be afraid be a friend" or Show all the ways you care" And there's even commercials that are teaching everyone about anything from friendship to honesty and then the commercials end with the slogan "Honesty Pass It On" And I cannot figure out how these commercials get so much airplay on TV and I think like the many commercials on illnesses these commercials will continue to get more popular as the times go by
Bestie