Provinces actually want this to go viral
COVID-19 ads have to be informative, shareable without being ‘cringey’
When former communications agency director Erin Bury considers ads she’s seen from governments during the COVID -19 pandemic, a villainous character with an active social life is the first thing that pops into her mind.
Mr. Covidhead, whose virusshaped head and malevolent grin made him a popular topic last year, was the centrepiece in ads from the Alberta government where he slow dances at house parties, digs into turkey at a family dinner and even prepares for a night out on the town.
His message is simple — COVID-19 loves gatherings, so Albertans should stay home to avoid it. The fact that few other ads spouting the same advice have stuck in Bury’s mind speaks volumes about the challenges of government marketing in a pandemic, she and other experts say.
Since the first case of COVID-19 in Canada one year ago, government-backed health and safety messages have appeared across television, radio, print and social media, and the efforts have intensified in recent months as the virus continues to avert control.
The campaigns have had middling results because they are not all targeting Canadians effectively and because they are trying to reach every demographic with a wide range of messages.
It’s a tall order for any creative team. The same messages — stay home, wear a mask, download the COVID Alert contact tracing app and be ready to get vaccinated — are tough to keep fresh.
“After a while, there is a bit of fatigue,” said Andrew Simon, Edelman Canada’s chief creative officer.
“People say, ‘I see (Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam) every day speaking to me and it’s always bad news and it’s always the same thing, so I’m not going to pay attention.’ ”
The Quebec government’s ads feature Francis, a general contractor in his 50s, who was healthy until he visited a friend. He caught COVID-19 and was hospitalized for 25 days.
Claire Tsai, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Toronto, thinks the tactic is interesting.
“There’s a lot of research in behavioural science … showing that if an ad triggers negative emotions, it usually is less effective than triggering positive emotion, even for campaigns,” she said.
Bury also had qualms about several ads because they seemed “like a (baby) boomer trying to make a ‘fun ad’ for gen Z without actually knowing how to speak to them.
“There’s a lot of government agencies spending a lot of money on traditional advertising, trying to influence a population that doesn’t take their cues from traditional advertising in 2021.”