Public Relations in the Crisis of Coronavirus
COVID-19, a highly contagious disease that spreads from one person to another, has rapidly spread across the globe. Various companies in the United States of America have joined in the fight against coronavirus epidemic through their public relations branding patterns. Coca-Cola Company is one of the companies in the top list of best brandings against coronavirus. ‘Staying Apart is the Way to Stay United’ is the Coca-Cola branding against the spread of coronavirus. Coca-Cola Company decided on the brand after realizing how contagious coronavirus is, and they concluded to create public awareness to minimize the spread of the virus. I think the Coca-Cola branding is a good idea since it discourages the public against unnecessary movements that facilitate the spread of coronavirus; the virus spreads from one person to another, and the spread is easily enabled when people keep close contacts. The government of the United States and governments of other several countries across the globe have asked their citizens to stay at home. The Coca-Cola branding, therefore, promotes a vital precautious measure of staying safe from coronavirus infection across the world. The branding is a sign of great gratitude to health workers and other professional services who are enthusiastically working with no rest to fight coronavirus. It also expresses love and care to the society at large, and gives the impression that the Coca-Cola company has the welfare of its customers at heart.
I would recommend the Coca-Cola Company to put up brandings on questions and answers about coronavirus and how it spreads to minimize the spread of propaganda news about the disease. It will create awareness of the facts and effects of COVID-19 to the public. I would also recommend them to donate hand sanitizers and cleaning detergents to families through humanitarian assistance organizations such as the Red Cross. Many families in the United States and other affected countries are not in the position to afford the best qualities of hand sanitizers and face masks. However, the World Health Organization advises that people should wash their hands from time to time. It, therefore, implies that families will be using large quantities of sanitizers, and unstable families could run out of money to fund the sanitizers. Coca-Cola Company should, therefore, make proactive strategic plans to partner with humanitarian organizations for donations. Coca-Cola Company should allow their workers to work from home to avoid the spread of the disease amongst its workers. Interactions at the workplace on a daily basis could facilitate the spread of the disease amongst the workers. The company should not just preach about social distancing but practice it at the same time. Coca-Cola Company should support the World Health Organization that is now pleading for support partners to donate to COVID-19 response funds. The underway project needs at least six hundred million dollars to support developing countries that are most in need of help to uphold their health sectors. The donations are also needed for the provision of gloves and face masks to countries that are desperately in need of them but cannot fund their own arrangements. Coca-Cola Company should concentrate more on providing donations as they are needed for the support of global effort to help individuals across the globe to fight against further spread of coronavirus.