Imagery of Human Contact Is Down 30% in Social Media Ads

A computer vision firm found trends in how brands have responded to the pandemic

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Quarantine culture is already causing drastic shifts in the imagery and copy that brands use to advertise on social media.

That’s according to data from marketing tech firm Pattern89, which used machine learning to track a 30% dip in social media ads featuring images or video of everyday human contact—hugging, kissing and holding hands—since March 12 amid the coronavirus pandemic hitting the United States.

At the same time, visuals associated with hand-washing have increased sixfold and those featuring travel—key terms like “airport” and “airplane”—are down about 8%.

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