From Covid ad boom to endemic: Tracking TV ads from first rush of brand camaraderie to today’s pharma boosters
When the Covid-19 pandemic began, consumer brands rushed to the TV airwaves to broadcast messages of solidarity and hope. The surge from brands offering Covid-19-related messages tallied close to $5 billion in TV media spending for the first nine months of the pandemic, according to data from real-time ad tracker iSpot.tv.
The 2020 tsunami was led by TV ads from automakers, restaurants and retailers, but pharma and healthcare — the industries most closely tied to the actual public health crisis — kept mostly low profiles.
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