© Priya Narayanan, Assistant Professor of Marketing, IIM Kozhikode. Views are personal.

Advertisements have changed quite a bit to reflect the reality of our daily struggle against covid-19. They no longer casually encourage consumers to splurge thoughtlessly: more and more advertisements are giving us reasons to buy. And more and more products are associating their reasons with the current situation. Handwashes, sanitizers, and Disney+Byju’s aside, there are a few interesting ads. Consider a few examples.

Recently, I was told that Lakme’s lip products have taken a hit, at least as evident from their product display on e-commerce sites. Natural enough, I thought, although I was unable to verify the news. After all, when lips are hidden by masks, the only time you can show off your lipstick is when you are eating (which happens only at home) or when you are in front of a webcam with a virtual audience. Well, that has not deterred either Lakme or Garnier. The same pandemic that has reduced consumption of lipstick (literally too!) has deterred visits to beauty parlors, implying that consumers need a substitute. Lo and behold, here is the “sheet mask” that gives the effect of a parlor-like “facial” in fifteen minutes! See a sample below, from the cosmetics seller Nykaa.

Will this make beauty parlors go out of business post-covid? Well, I am sure they will innovate. In any case, the care and attention that one gets in a parlor can never be replaced by a sheet, can it?!

It all began (or so it seemed to me), with Domino’s pizza announcing their touch-free delivery process, as shown in the image below, sourced from the Domino’s site.

And then there was a series of products that claimed to increase immunity, along with apparel companies that offered anti-covid suiting which, expectedly enough, was not appreciated by the Advertising Standards Council of India.

Those ads seem logical enough. Now, how does one sell a car these days when not only are people avoiding big and risky purchases in general, but they are also avoiding travel for the foreseeable future? Well, ask Hyundai! A 2-minute spiel on India and Indians, with Hyundai driving every travel in India. Well, who said you need a car to sell a car? All you need is a doctor, a teacher, a few smiling children, and Shah Rukh Khan to sell a brand. Watch the ad here.

Mixing it all up is Horlicks, which has been trying to push Horlicks Women in a strong way in the recent past. What can Horlicks do during a pandemic? Yes, you got it right, it can provide immunity boosters. And if you have a doctor, a woman doctor at that, you never know which hearts the ad might touch. So here’s what Horlicks is up to in its recent ad. I wonder why Complan, Horlicks, and the like do not mention milk these days – is there a taboo in talking about milk and dairy products? Amul does so with such panache, be it the ad for Amul Taaza or the one for Amul Cheese. And why not?

There is one ad that tops it all. Domex uses the mask to indicate that a toilet that smells bad harbors germs. This ad is different from typical (read Harpic) ads on toilet cleaners for two reasons. First, the germs in the toilet are indicated by smell, and not by the usual stained white image. This might appeal better to the new generation, because after all, who has a toilet that doesn’t look clean? Second, the person pointing out the germs is a 10-year-old boy, in contrast to the “toilet expert” who visits houses (and invades our houses too, as we watch the early afternoon movie on television, munching chips and sipping tea) and teaches hygiene to unenlightened housewives. Not bad! This one could have been executed better, but nevertheless, here is the ad. Worth watching once. It’s in Telugu this time, but the video is understandable enough.

Clearly, it seems the advertising scene is as interesting as ever!