Advertising Deficiency

[Pandemic - XIV]

The pandemic has exposed so many real needs. Needs that were hidden from the public eye before the the first lockdown. A more resilient food system, childcare support, diverse schooling options, financial assistance programs, and affordable housing, to name a few.

Needs drive consumption.
Companies know this. Consumers feel it. Advertisers make big money because of it.

In a first world context, our unmet needs are minimal (by comparison), so advertisers are employed to create the illusion of need by reminding us of what we don’t have. The premise of most commercials is the message, “You are deficient.”

But the pandemic has exposed real, everyday needs, and not just manufactured deficiencies. We might say, the pandemic is giving advertisers some “competition”: the perception of need vs. real need. It’s this juxtaposition that causes quasi-innocent consumers to get whipped up into a frenzy because many of them are feeling the difference between the real and the manufacturing thing for the first time (in a long time). So, they act erratically. Like hoarding toilet paper.

This is the time, in the middle of the storm, that faith communities can offer clarity, balance, and wisdom. And it’s also a time when they need to deliver on real needs.

They can’t and won’t, however, if a) they've been an advertising company all along, or b) they haven’t done the hard work to know what the real, specific needs are around them.

What are the real needs around you? Deliver.