Easter During a Pandemic

Cadbury U.K. yanked an Easter TV spot showing a grandfather hugging his grandchildren during an egg hunt, while Jelly Belly scrapped its “Better Shared” campaign. Facing an egg shortage thanks to panic buying, an egg dye brand is suggesting that people dye marshmallows and ping-pong balls. Peeps is touting craft projects kids can make with the marshmallow treats.

In short, brands are having to seriously rethink the way they're advertising for Easter. As the first major U.S. shopping event of the coronavirus era, the way they—and consumers—approach the holiday will have lasting effects, especially on candy brands for whom the holiday represents a huge chunk of revenue.

Read more: People find comfort in what they know, and brands are trying to deliver that for them now, while some brands are kickstarting what could become new traditions.

Here's how a few other brands are responding to COVID-19:

In less than two years at the helm of the world's largest advertising holding company, Mark Read has seen WPP undergo a rapid transformation. Wunderman and J. Walter Thompson merged, as did VML and Y&R. WPP sold its majority stake in research firm Kantar. Now Read faces a pandemic that threatens to upend the agency network, putting countless jobs at risk. As of now, Read says he can't rule out job losses, but the leadership team took a 20% paycut as the first step to protect jobs. To try to quell anxieties, WPP leadership has been doing massive virtual town halls with employees, sometimes speaking to as many as 2,000 people.

Read more: Read explains what WPP is doing to remain afloat and service clients during these turbulent times.

Hard-hitting, reasonable truth bombs from a frozen meat brand? In the era of COVID-19, things have been stranger. Frozen meat brand Steak-umm's Twitter account has published several deep, thoughtful threads reflecting the current state of affairs and the zeitgeist, beginning with Monday's sobering, nine-part soliloquy on Twitter admonishing misinformation and advising on the importance of media literacy and reliable sources of data.

It's all the work of Nathan Allebach, social media manager for Allebach Communications and the man behind the brand’s voice, whose real-talk isn't exactly a new strategy.

Read more: We spoke with Allebach, who attests that he's not using the platform to sell, but to help—and it seems his messages are resonating.

For decades, Volkwswagen stood behind the same iconic logo that adorned 6.2 million new cars last year. Yesterday, that changed. Volkswagen officially debuted its new logo that will soon be adopted company wide. But the change isn't exactly noticeable to the casual eye. Basically, Volkswagen chief designer Klaus Bischoff took the “W”—already separated from the vertex of the “V” by a small seam—and detached its feet from the circle so that it essentially hangs by its arms, then deepened the blue.

Read more: Like many brands, the subtle logo change is intended to make them display better on the small screens more common today.

A few weeks ago, award-winning commercial and film director Alex Grossman put posts on social media offering his directorial services for free, and of course he was soon inundated with requests. Grossman set to work creating spots for small businesses, including a small takeout restaurant, a used bookstore and a music center. For each, he reached out to various friends in the industry depending on what the spot needed, using just his iPhone and whatever light sources he had lying around the house as gear and, for the most part, only his family as talent.

Read more: Watch the spots and read Grossman's advice for marketers in limbo.

Best of the Rest: Today's Top News and Highlights

“We’re Hiring,” a new ad from agency CPB, was recorded entirely on Zoom and features real Domino’s franchisees sharing two messages: that they’re open for business and that, perhaps rarest of all, they’re hiring.

Join Adweek, BEN and IBM Watson Advertising for the Elevate: AI Live Virtual Event, April 20th, to gain key insights on how to successfully integrate artificial intelligence into your business. Register for free today.

Rhone, Boll & Branch, Summersalt and more offer discounts and make donations.

Marketers need to reimagine their purpose and find ways to help where possible.

It will be the first new SNL content since its March 7 episode.

Netflix’s Tiger King surged on the GIF discovery platform.

She's back in Season 4 of The Good Fight, and will also appear in HBO's The Gilded Age.

The Truvada manufacturer's new emergency grant fund will go to groups facing shutdown.