Rhetoric of Pandemic Advertising

Abstract

At the same time that the world was devastated by the COVID-19 epidemic and global confinement c, the advertising industry suffered a substantial shake, which poses enormous challenges.
This article investigates the adaptation of discursive strategies that the pandemic advertising discourse records and, particularly, identifies the main messages conveyed. Although it may be a space for evasion and entertainment, in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, the analysed advertising reflects the social transformations experienced by individuals and stands as a responsible voice that fulfils the duties of social distancing and sets the examples to be followed. Thus, brands, through advertising, assume themselves as protagonists and relevant agents of responsible behaviour, thus contributing to the development of brand image.
Adopting a rhetorical point of view, the construction of messages is examined from their Invention, Arrangement, Style and Delivery. It is concluded that there is an enormous uniformity in the rhetorical construction of pandemic advertising, in which the Invention focuses on the thesis "separated but together" and unfolds in two sub-thesis: "we will overcome this together"; and "we have always been present and will always be".