Changing advertising concept in the COVID-19 period: Analysis of ads containing a pandemic message

Crises are a situation that threatens businesses that appear suddenly. Many businesses have been adversely affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. Businesses that manage the crisis well with the solutions they bring to social problems are more preferred by the consumers and they will outperform their competitors. The Covid-19 pandemic is one of the rare crises in world history.Brands that manage this crisis well and maintain communication with their target audiences take steps to increase their post-crisis values. In this context, some brands play an active role in the epidemic by changing their advertisements after the pandemic announcement, giving messages such as masks, social distance, and staying at home about the epidemic. In this study, ten commercials that changed after the pandemic announced by WHO on March 11, 2020, published on Youtube and viewed over one million until June 1, 2021 were evaluated. In these ten commercials, it has been determined that people stay at home during the epidemic and use linguistic and visual expressions for concepts such as respect and respect for elders, cooperation and solidarity, and gratitude. Rather than promoting their products during the epidemic, brands showed the necessary precautions and unity to their target audiences. As a result, the brands of businesses that engage in such activities are perceived positively by consumers and target audiences. Keywords: Advertising, Covid-19, Pandemic, Semiotics, Discourse Analysis