Chin Up Everyone
COVID-19 and Advertising Law
If you were like me, the start of 2020 was downright jarring.
January was a blur, February was a crusher, and March was surreal. Every time I sat down to write a monthly Ad Matter, I couldn’t type fast enough to keep up with the headlines and even if I came close, something tore me away from finishing.
Here we are in April and I’m learning to let go of my default plan-ahead nature and go hour by hour.
99% of the headlines – regardless of your industry - start with the words “Covid-19”. Some are sad but so many are uplifting. Look at how the film, literature, theater, television and other entertainment sectors are finding even more creative ways to do what they do best: entertain. Look at some of the beautiful ads out there reminding us that our lives will return to some pre-virus routine and some of the wonderful content being put out there from people’s basements and home offices to try and make us laugh.
We will once again have in person classrooms, we will attend live sports events, we will host parties and hug our friends. But it won’t be exactly the same. At the end of the day, I sincerely think that this deep breath we’re being forced to take will result in a swell of creativity, gratitude, and the ability to listen to each other in ways we haven’t had the opportunity to in the past.
So rather than fill April’s Ad Matter with advertising law updates, of which there are many as the business adapts to the current reality, I provided a list of links that have me smile in the past few weeks. I hope you get a smile out of them too.
(There’s a little legal at the end ….couldn’t resist)
Here’s to more happy days ahead.
My favorite commercials:
Our health care workers, teachers, law enforcement professionals, parents are at a minimum, superheroes, but these days, people are being called upon to be superhuman. Check out Budweiser’s moving tribute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnHa1GbeDE4&feature=youtu.be
Miss sports? So does ESPN. Their spot (by local Richmond agency, Arts and Letters Creative Co.) is a pretty powerful reminder that we’re all in this together.
https://uproxx.com/sports/espn-commercial-we-love-sports/
My favorite celebrities:
There are so many funny things being put out by the usual suspects - Fallon, Corden, etc.. but here are a few warm and fuzzies I found.
Lizzo Does Lunch: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lizzo-coronavirus-medical-workers_n_5e84b19ac5b6871702a83ce7
Matthew McConaughey – Keep on Livin’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6-odi5FtW0
My favorite jeans (and daily live concert!)
Levi’s is hosting daily Instagram live concerts at @5:01 every evening. Great place to host a virtual happy hour with your remote co workers.
https://www.levistrauss.com/2020/03/24/levis-501-live-online-concert-series/
My favorite big gesture: Broadway to the Rescue
There are so many big gestures these days but I am a fan of musicals and we are an entertainment law firm so I’m adding this link.
My favorite free stuff: A great list of free entertainment (that wasn’t free before):
A Few Resources for Anyone in the Entertainment Business (Courtesy of VPA – the Virginia Production Alliance)
ActorsFund.org: Actors Fund serves professionals in film and television as well.
wp.behindthescenescharity.org: Provides financial support to entertainment technology industry professionals who are seriously ill or injured. Grants can include basic living costs, medical related expenses transportation and funeral expenses.
BroadcastersFoundation.org: The mission of the Foundation is to improve the quality of life and maintain the personal dignity of men and women in the radio and television broadcast profession who find themselves in acute financial need due to a critical illness, accident, advanced age or other serious misfortune.
MPTF.com: The Motion Picture & Television Fund supports our entertainment community in living and aging well, with dignity and purpose, and in helping each other in times of need.
WRPioneers.org: The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Fund’s goal is to provide both short-term and long-term assistance to veterans of the motion picture entertainment industry.
And finally – Legal Updates of Interest
The TEACH ACT addresses use of copyrighted materials in education. Read here for a guide om how this is working in the time of online classrooms:
The FTC has issued a consumer warning regarding Corona relief checks. Scammers and bad actors love a good crisis so be careful what your source of information is and be careful who you share information with:
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2020/04/want-get-your-coronavirus-relief-check-scammers-do-too
A reminder about the importance of a clear Force Majeure clause: