This is how ads can save the world.

Many scientists agree that societies don't learn from any crisis. On the other hand, a few people will always start thinking about improving the world in extreme situations like this pandemic. It's not surprising. When your daily routine is broken and you are forced to stop for a while, your brain will start to create new associations. That's why you have good ideas under the shower. It's just a long break.

I don't think a "new world" is coming tomorrow. I am even afraid that some things may get worse, like the rise of anti-democratic systems that strip people of their liberties. But, on the long run, I am optimistic. I believe capitalism is slowly moving into a more sustainable direction and some aspects of the Covid-19 situation will help us understand what we can do to steer our ship onto less dangerous waters.

I will try to explain my point of view on the role of advertising and communication in building a humane world. It may sound like a utopia, but thought-starters should be rather bold, otherwise they won't start any thinking.

It's quite trendy to consider advertising as the flagship of evil consumerism, pushing the planet over the limit. But brand communication is only a part of a much bigger complex system, so it doesn't make sense to say, let's not advertise anything from tomorrow and we can save the world. Nevertheless, advertising can influence people, in some cases it can even change the culture.

So, let's see what we should do.

We must redefine the meaning of commodities and luxury products. Inequality means that we have to find ways to provide basic food, clean water and shelter for everybody on Earth. No wonder the Basic Universal Income is a hot topic again when people, even in well-to-do societies, lose their jobs from one day to another. Uncertainty becomes the norm of the 21st century. In such an environment, governments should provide the basics to everyone. But how do they collect the money? Well, I am sorry to be such a leftist but they will need to increase taxes on luxury spendings. And by luxury I mean everything that is not a basic necessity. We all have reevaluated our needs in the lockdown, so most people have quite a good idea of what they need to survive and then what else they could spend on, for fun, if they can afford it. The global reevaluation of human needs will have sad consequences for some sectors like air travel. But it will also enable politicians to define what resources are necessary to make people feel safe and happy. We don't need as many things as we thought.

Commodities should become a category without branding. Drinking water should be free or very cheap to everyone in the world. Water is water. The same in clothing, a white t-shirt is a white t-shirt. But it should be made of sustainable materials and it should last longer than a few months. Governments must decrease consumption taxes on all basic items, so people only pay for the real production cost of those. Personal communication should be a commodity, too. No need to advertise a simple mobile data plan, everyone should be able to access it for a fixed low price.

At the same time, as we reevaluate what's essential and what's less important, more products and services will be considered as a luxury. Not only condos, superyacths and sports cars. But also beef, premium fashion and quality smartphones. Those will be the heavily taxed products that can pay for the basic income or the basic necessities of everyone. And those are the things that will need advertising. Because building trusted and loved brands makes it possible to ask consumers for a higher price. Premium brands can improve sustainability.

When you sell a premium product or a service with a high margin, you are actually selling a feeling. Those people who can afford it will pay more than the production cost. They will pay more taxes. They will pay for the environmental costs of production and distribution. So the role of advertising in the future will be to build premium brands that bring in enough cash to pay for what the society needs.

Let's see beef. It definitely does harm the environment. So let's imagine for a moment that governments can defeat the lobbies and, similarly to CO2 quotas, a global agreement is reached on a 1000% tax on all beef products. This way only the top 1% will be able to buy it. We will need less beef production, less land, less water. But the tax volume will remain the same.

Now imagine there are 3 big beef companies in the world. They have to convince the wealthy to choose their beef, so they need to build luxury brands. They need to advertise, directly to the top 1% of people and convince them their beef is superior. And the better those brands are, the higher the price. Higher price means higher taxes for governments. And it means cheap water, housing, healthcare and education for everyone.

We can't go on pretending that all people are equal. We should use advertising to sell feelings and emotions, to support a price premium, but for a reason. Drawing a new line between commodities and luxury items could be the first step towards a sustainable future.