Around the world in smart Covid-19 ads
A heavy-in-the-cheek Covid-19 public service announcement from Germany raising “lazy as raccoon” couch potatoes to certified heroes became a sensation on social media over the weekend. Many ads for coronavirus awareness rely on fear or strike a gloomy tone with now well-known tropes – the rising drone images of empty cityscapes and swells of sad music. But another genre differs with humor or smart ways of living now, often with a view to reaching young people. Jowharlooks at some of the best in the world.
Germany
This immediate classic went viral after German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert shared it on Twitter on Saturday with the hashtag #besonderehelden or #veryspecialheroes.
It contains an Anton Lehmann, now an old man of the future, who is raking back to his youth. “It was the winter of 2020. Everyone’s eyes were on us. I was 22 years old, a mechanical engineering student in Chemnitz, when the second wave hit,” he says. “When the invisible danger threatened everything we were doing, we called up all our courage and did what was expected of us – the only right thing to do,” says Lehmann as the soundtrack swells to a climax before suddenly climbing to a halt. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Lazy as raccoons,” he explains.
The young Lehmann spends the rest of the clip littering junk food and watching TV. “Our sofa was our front line and our patience our weapon,” says his future self.
The viral video even reached Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “Have you seen Germany’s new ads about Covid-19? It does not matter what language you speak, the message is clear,” Trudeau tweeted on Monday, “You can be the hero in the fight against this virus – and you do not” I do not have to even do so much. “
A second public service announcement (PSA) in the German series shows Lehmann’s wife, Luise, telling about her version of 2020, while the young Lehmann plays greetings from his bed with a drumstick from a takeaway bucket of fried chicken.
Russia
This Russian ad also urges the country’s football fans to embrace households ahead of Covid-19. “Even if you’re a football fan, stay home. Be a man and stay strong!” as director Roman Kulepetov put it.
South Africa
The advertising company Havas gives conflicting anti-masks a lick with this South African clip that makes the risks far too real, because a man happily uses an automatic cash machine … with his tongue. “If you’re not wearing a mask, you might as well do this. Do not be a #Covidiot.” The series includes other videos in the same direction; one includes elevator buttons, the other slurps off an escalator railing. A disclaimer assures viewers that no co-idiots were injured during the dramatization.
Italy
The hard-hit Lombardy region of Italy urged football star Zlatan Ibrahimovic to distribute his playful supercilious persona for good in this short message after the AC Milan striker tested positive for coronavirus in September. “The virus challenged me and I won, but you’re not Zlatan,” the cocky football player explains before slipping on a face mask.
UK
To encourage viewers to stay home and save lives, Britain’s Channel 4 dared to ask: “When was the last time you did something that really mattered to your ass?”
Iran
Tehran-based actor Danial Kheirikhah was more upset when his country was hit hard by Covid-19. This homemade hand-washing PSA features Kheirikhah conducting an orchestra of Brahms’ # 1 Hungarian Dance.
Croatia
Some fun messages are the simplicity itself. This Croatian beer ad keeps the social distancing of messages to a single awkward look.
Australia
Other smart coronavirus ads are much more detailed. This car ad takes couch potato heroes to a place that travels through the Australian countryside that would fill an afternoon. “We usually invite you to enjoy the open road. Instead, we take the open road to you,” Audi Australia suggests. “Relax at home with a four-hour drive through the New South Wales countryside in the all-new Audi A6 Sedan.” Equal parts “Vorsprung durch technik” and “Are we there yet?”.
Vietnam
The Vietnamese health department used cute cartoon characters and a relentlessly captivating melody to make the message mask up and wash your hands. The ad got the thumbs up from the British TV series magazine John Oliver, who presented the video in his “Last Week Tonight” series in March. “Yes! Vietnam did a song about washing their hands to prevent coronavirus infection and it absolutely beats!” he squirted. “It’s a real club ranger!”
Singapore
Not to be outdone, the Singapore government also went the extra mile, releasing this captivating coronavirus-fighting music video, “Singapore Be Steady”, starring actor Gurmit Singh, who reprises his popular character Phua Chu Kang.
USA
Coronavirus hit hard and hard in New York City, the American hub for advertising talent and star power – so of course the city has been a source of (often funny) coronavirus public service announcements.
In this PSA, the famous ageless actor Paul Rudd says that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recruited him to get the message “wear a mask” to millennia. “He’s like, ‘Paul, you have to help. How are you, 26? “And I did not correct him,” Rudd explains.
USA
New York also recruited “Friday the 13th” slasher Jason Voorhees to deliver a simple message full of pathos behind his iconic hockey mask: “Wearing a mask can be scary. Not wearing one can be deadly. Wearing a mask , New York.”
USA / UN
When the UN put forward a call for creative public health messages to stop the spread of coronavirus, Brooklyn-based director Josh Cohen responded with this minimalist offer, “How not to touch your face in infectious times.”
WHO
Meanwhile, the Geneva – based World Health Organization, the United Nations Foundation and the ‘Despicable Me’ animation studio Illumination collaborated on a public announcement with Gru and his Minions. Actor Steve Carell expresses compassionate villain Gru’s appeal: “Remember, we’re all in this together. But completely separate!”
Laughter, like the pandemic, is universal.
