Behind the Seen’s: Creatives in Crisis Mode

A bittersweet upside to the Creative industry is that it thrives in times of disaster, chaos, and disruption. That’s because the core function of Creatives is to help communicate a message from its origin to its audience.

Therefore, the sense of urgency surrounding the COVID19 pandemic creates a unique set of opportunities because so many messages need to get out — quickly. Here are four examples of pandemic-related creative output that recently crossed humblebrand.org’s radar:

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Example #1 — Who Nose?

Responding to a crisis can take many forms. In this example, seminal give-a-damn folkrock band Aztec Two-Step asked humblebrand to create a simple PSA (Public Service Announcement) to show people exactly what the COVID19 nasal swab entails ...

Source: bit.ly/covid19psavideo

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Example #2 — K.I.S.S.

Internet best practice: always shorten & customize your URL links and — if you’re creative, speedy, and clever — be sure to snag a memorable one. Just pick your favorite URL-shortener services. In this case, “covidusa” was already taken on bitly.com but “usacovid” was available. For the Aztec Two-Step PSA mentioned above in Example #1, humblebrand advised the band to champion the notion that people should JUST GET TESTED. Therefore, a handy shortlink to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention directory of state-sponsored websites is de rigueur. You decide: type in 80 characters (https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/healthdirectories/healthdepartments.html) or thirteen ...

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Example #3 —

A-Meme-Away* ??

Creatives sometimes have the luxury of becoming their own client. If their paying clients are too overwhelmed by a crisis to dispatch tasks, then it’s time to get to work on self-assigned projects.

This is especially true in crises where an economic undertow ALSO handicaps the client’s ability to pay for the work. In this case, humblebrand tasked itself with creating an equally profane visual to pair with the trending hashtag #fuckyoucovid19.**

The best intention of the meme is to rally us together and take aim at the real enemy in this pandemic — the virus itself. These screenshots are examples (albeit-censored) of how the meme propogates the myriad social milieux. Other crisis-related activity is circled as well ...

Example #4 — Write on!

Another self-assigned humblebrand task is to write a full-blown, illustrated, provocative LinkedIn article. In the article, quarantines are equated to “a boycott against capitalism”— with an unintended upside, quarantines also mitigate pollution...!

Get the scoop at bit.ly/boycott2020

Example #5 — Cath-ART-sis

By now, everyone embroiled in this particular crisis needs a way to vent their frustrations with the disease. Some have taken a swing at coronavirus pi?atas:

Here is a hamburger bun shaped like the coronavirus:

Finally, here is a video that bullies the covid19 into submission. PARENTAL ADVISORY: The video is a mite profane. However, you will feel much better having watched it. Crank your ear buds up to 11:

That’s all folks!

You can call on humblebrand.org ([email protected]) if your brand, mission, product, or idea needs some good ol'-fashioned Creative servicing.

Until the next crisis, for brain-candy-laden escapism, come bide your time on bit.ly/ski365... ttys!

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* A corny, but well-intentioned, reference to the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube" for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda's original was written in Zulu, while the English version's lyrics were written by George David Weiss).

** Ahem, such profanity naturally does not trend here on our demure LinkedIn platform. Elsewhere, it is on fire: