It's OK to admit it: There's something unnerving about the idea of branded masks.

As the debate continues to rage nationally (and globally) about when businesses should reopen their doors amid the Covid-19 pandemic, more companies are beginning to put in orders for branded personal protection equipment, known as PPE.

It's disconcerting to think of protective masks as a branding opportunity, not to mention how it highlights the fact businesses are operating while a virus with no vaccine is still circulating.

But regardless of how you might feel about branded masks, they're about to become a common sight, per a story today from my Adweek colleague Patrick Kulp. While 3D printing is helping create limited runs of branded PPE, larger orders are also being put in by companies like grocer Publix.

Publix is actually a great example of where branded masks make sense to me. My only journeys out of quarantine in recent weeks have been to Publix, where employees wear a hodgepodge of whatever mask they had access to that day. That inconsistency has made me wonder if some employees were safer than others and whether there was some way to better standardize the gear, which appears to be exactly what the brand has in the works.

Would you be able and willing to work in an office where masks were required? (Obviously some might not have any choice.) As a customer, how would you feel seeing branded masks on employees?

We'll all find out soon enough as these experiences become more ubiquitous. These are, as has become the norm, uncharted waters.

David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
[email protected]