D2C Brand Public Goods Tests Advertising Rules Around COVID-19

Public Goods is testing social media sites like Facebook by creating an advertising campaign to promote its hand sanitizers, face masks and other goods needed for COVID-19.

Some publishers including Google and Facebook have created policies that prohibit the use of certain words in ads because the sites have been hit with a rash of price gouging. The sites have banned in ads keywords such as COVID-19, face mask and hand sanitizer. 

For Public Goods, a brand that has hand sanitizer in stock and launched face masks Friday, available at what it considers a “fair price,” the ban of words affects its ability to increase visibility to consumers who are in need of these products. 

Public Goods has a response. Its ad, now viewable on Facebook and Google's YouTube, has managed to generate lower CACs by $36, lower CPCs by $0.37, and increased engagement by 833%. The growth numbers are based off of the average campaign statistics. 

In an attempt to show its creativity,Public Goods' ad uses bleed marks to replace the words COVID-19, face mask and hand sanitizer, replaced with symbols like #@%& $@&!?!*#( and f@<& #@$*. This is one step it has taken among many changes occurring in the advertising industry and consumers head on into the new normal, according to some.

The company did not say whether or not sales have improved since the ad launched. Perhaps it's too early to tell.

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