Hershey Co. is putting coronavirus precautions into its commercials, pulling two spots focused on human interaction and replacing them with spots featuring only chocolate bars, text, and voiceover.
Hershey says it made the decision Friday to pull spots featuring Bob Williams and Diggy Moreland handing out Hershey bars to strangers, often with hugs and handshakes. Coronavirus can spread with person-to-person contact. The spread of the virus has already led some people to stop performing usual greetings such as handshakes and has led to the cancellation of numerous events.“Sadly, we have decided to temporarily replace two of our ads that feature human interaction, that include hugging and handshakes, due to the current sensitivities surrounding the COVID-19 virus,” Hershey Co. Chief Marketing Officer Jill Baskin said in a statement to Ad Age. “At this time, our ads have been replaced with product-centric spots.”