Willie O’Reilly: Our admakers have risen to the Covid-19 challenge

When we look back at the TV adverts we saw during the pandemic, the dominant themes emphasised consumer safety and plenty of empathy – and that was how it should be

‘Earlier this year, Lidl featured a couple dressing glamorously for a visit to the “shops”. It played on so many couples’ experience of a date night under Covid-19 restrictions’

It’s been a challenging and exciting time for those who make our TV adverts. In particular, I’m thinking of the researchers, art directors, editors, camera operators, make-up artists and producers who work behind the scenes to make the commercial elixir.

The pandemic has upended their industry in ways that seem improbable. For freelancers – a sizeable percentage of the workforce – it’s been a really tough time financially. The whole industry has downsized.

In the ...