In tough times, a barrage of ads promises peace of mind
A lethal pandemic and widespread unemployment have coincided with a tense presidential campaign and nationwide unrest.
For the advertising industry, that means opportunity.
“If history has taught us anything, it’s that we can get through anything— and that beer sometimes helps,” actor Paul Giamatti says in a Coors Light commercial.
The narrator of a commercial for Firstleaf, a subscription wine club, echoes the sentiment: “We’re going to need a lot of wine to get through this year.”
Those commercials are part of an onslaught of ads promising relief in a stressful time.
Online advertisements for Moon Pals, a line of plush-toy animals with big, doleful eyes, promise “deeper sleep,” “better cognitive functioning” and “reduced anxiety.” The company’s marketing materials inform potential customers that the arms of the stuffed Moon Pals creatures are specially weighted, so that they are able to give “hugs that can save theworld.”
Vitality Extracts, a company that sells elixirs and trinkets, promises to “lift your mood and relieve tension.” Its Stress & Anxiety Bundle includes a tiny bottle labeled Stress Away, which contains a “pure essential oil blend,” and a pair of “calming and anxiety bracelets.” At $50, the bundle is sold out.
Procter & Gamble says it can “turn the stressed life into your best life” in recent ads for StressBalls gumdrops, whose ingredients include ashwagandha extract and valerian root extract. Nature’s Bounty, a wellness company, promises away for its customers to “find peace” in new ads for Stress Comfort gummies, which include ingredients such as gamma-aminobutyric acid, melatonin and lavender extract.
Roman, a New York company that offers treatments for conditions such as erectile dysfunction and hair loss, is advertising stress relief capsules that it says are “backed by science.” But Roman also acknowledges that some ingredients of its products, like rhodiola rosea, have “yet to be extensively studied in the USA.”
Stephanie Van Stee, an associate professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis who specializes in health communication, advises consumers not to allow stress to overwhelm their skepticism. “You need to be looking at these advertisements critically and do your research to make sure you know what you’re getting,” she said.
During a time when almost 185,000 people in the United States have died of COVID-19 and millions have been put out of work, nearly one-third of American adults have reported signs of anxiety or depression, a significant increase from a year earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last month. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that of the millions of workers who have faced pay cuts or layoffs, more than half blame the pandemic for damaging their mental health.
Public service messages geared to a newly vulnerable population started appearing in the spring, with commercials from the Advertising Council, a nonprofit group. In one campaign, entertainers including Meghan Trainor and Addison Rae encouraged teenagers to connect with friends; in another, creators on TikTok like Jaci Butler and Parker James shared tips on handling isolation.
Those messages were followed by a flood of ads for sleep aids, mental health apps, remote therapy services, prescription drugs, potions and tinctures.
Janelle Applequist, an associate professor of advertising and public relations at the University of South Florida, said the appeal of ads promising solace was likely to continue.
“What’s scary about right now is that we’ve been cooped up for so long, and the day-to-day has become so difficult, that it’s very tempting to see an ad for a drug and think that it might bring release,” she said. “We’re talking about people feeling serious financial pressure, social anxiety, loneliness.”
She added, “This is almost a recipe for disaster.”