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The federal government is very aware of how hard everyday life is for many parents and children.
This is how Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) recently put it in her video podcast.
It is a weekly film message on the Internet in which the head of government addresses current issues.
The podcast about the feat of strength for parents was not only seen at the beginning of February by those who searched for it on the Internet.
The federal government also advertised the format on the Facebook social network.
It is estimated to have been viewed by users more than a million times.
The federal government, various ministries and authorities have placed several thousand such advertisements on social networks in the past twelve months.
Sometimes with educational campaigns, sometimes with advertising for one's own politics.
The biggest profiteers financially: Facebook, Instagram and Co.
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Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the federal government's press office alone has spent almost 1.4 million euros on advertisements on the coronavirus in the networks, as announced by the WELT AM SONNTAG office.
Major customers of the Ministry of Health and Labor
In addition, the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) and the Federal Ministry of Labor (BMAS) advertise with corona messages, as an evaluation of the ads with the highest reach (each with more than a million impressions) from the Facebook advertising library has shown.
This is where all the advertisements purchased on Facebook or Instagram on politically or socially relevant topics are saved.
Since then, the BMG has spent almost 300,000 euros on these large advertisements alone, and the BMAS around 120,000 euros.
Individual advertisements from some countries were also viewed more than a million times on the platforms, for example by the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
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The exact amount that flowed to Facebook is likely to be significantly higher, since states and ministries have also placed numerous small ads for three- or four-digit cost amounts at the US group.
Overall, German Facebook customers advertised around 31,000 advertisements under the keyword Corona in the past twelve months.
But it is by no means only politicians who want to enlighten or advertise their crisis management.
Environmental organizations and corporations manage to reach an audience of millions on the platforms with their advertisements.
More than 500 corona-political ads in one year
It should become one of the federal government's prestige projects: the Corona warning app.
But even months after the release, new bugs kept popping up.
To date, the app has too few users.
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However, there is one thing that the federal government does not have to be accused of: not having advertised digital infection tracking enough.
She has run major ads on Facebook and Instagram over the past twelve months.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/Bundesregierung;
Screenshot Welt am Sonntag
Those alone that have been viewed more than a million times cost around 380,000 euros, according to the Facebook advertising library.
The federal government did not want to place any other corona issue so strongly on social networks.
In addition, she mainly advertised her Corona podcast and video messages from the Chancellor.
In total, Facebook counted around 520 corona-political advertisements from the federal government in the past twelve months, 30 of which exceeded the one million impressions mark.
Jens Spahn's house dares to do a risky balancing act
For the Federal Ministry of Health, the Corona campaign on the Internet is undoubtedly a balancing act.
For weeks, the house of Jens Spahn (CDU) placed paid advertisements on Facebook for the AstraZeneca vaccine, advertising its effectiveness - until last Tuesday.
On the day when Germany imposed a vaccination ban on the vaccine from the British-Swedish manufacturer, Facebook users also no longer saw that ad.
Source: www.facebook.com/bmg.bund;
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By then, according to the Facebook library, advertising had already had more than a million impressions.
A total of 33 of around 1500 ads that the Federal Ministry of Health placed on Facebook or Instagram cracked this mark in the past twelve months.
Sometimes the house urged compliance with the hygiene rules, sometimes it advertised its new vaccination dashboard.
The cost of the 33 high-reach advertisements alone: around 300,000 euros.
"We're removing false claims about vaccines"
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Not only is the federal government trying to spread its message on Facebook, the corona deniers of the "lateral thinkers" also find their audience on the platform.
Advertise with the coronavirus?
This is basically allowed, explains Facebook when asked.
If such advertisements contain election advertisements or advertisements on politically or socially relevant topics, they would also have to receive a "Financed by" notice - and will be published in the Facebook advertising library.
"Here you can publicly see which groups of people they have seen and how much has been spent on them," explains a spokeswoman.
Recently, however, there has been harsh criticism that Facebook is not taking decisive action against conspiracy myths and unsubstantiated claims that are disseminated via advertisements.
Basically, Facebook checks the images, the text and the positioning of an advertisement for violations of the group guidelines, it is said.
In addition, Facebook has introduced stricter guidelines for content and advertisements related to Corona.
"For example, since December 2020 we have been removing false claims about Covid-19 vaccines that have been refuted by public health experts," said a spokeswoman.
Even “lateral thinkers” advertise on Facebook and Instagram
The group is continuously expanding the list of refuted statements in coordination with the World Health Organization.
"Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have taken numerous measures to combat false claims about Corona in both organic posts and advertisements," it says.
How many ads Facebook has deleted from its German platform, the group does not want to say when asked.
Source: www.facebook.com/silberjunge.de;
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One who also places ads on Facebook is called Thorsten Schulte, also known as "the silver boy".
Schulte speaks in "lateral thinkers" demos and was last at the invitation of the AfD in the Bundestag.
He managed to draw attention to his video messages more than a million times - thanks to advertisements on Facebook.
That shows the advertising library of the group.
In the ads, Schulte, who actually works as a financial expert, linked to the video.
Accordingly, he had the ads cost up to 4500 euros.
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"What entitles this man to be able to order compulsory vaccinations?" Asks Thorsten Schulte in one of his videos from last April.
He means Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and philanthropist, who had previously commented on corona vaccinations on ARD.
Schulte evidently senses a conspiracy.
Only: There was never any mention of forced vaccinations in the interview.
Corporations place ads for hundreds of thousands of euros
Corporations are also using the corona crisis as an opportunity to align their advertising with the pandemic.
This includes the pharmaceutical giant Bayer.
"The longer Corona lasts, the more it puts a strain on the psyche," the company says to its work psychologist in a Facebook and Instagram ad that ran until the end of December.
This is particularly stressful for the chronically ill.
“We want to help them and strengthen them mentally,” Bayer advertises.
According to the Facebook advertising library, the company pays up to 30,000 euros for high-reach ads like this one.
In addition, there are smaller amounts for four-digit amounts each.
Source: www.facebook.com/bayerDE;
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Bayer does not want to reveal more about the background.
“The content of our current content marketing programs cover a very wide range of topics,” explains a spokesman.
They refer only to a small extent to corona and the pandemic.
However, Bayer is familiar with social media advertising on political or societal issues.
According to the Facebook advertising library, the group has spent more than 640,000 euros on advertising on Facebook or Instagram in the past two years.
Source: www.facebook.com/greenpeace.de;
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Corona is causing previously dominant topics such as environmental protection to be forgotten - to the chagrin of various NGOs.
In the past twelve months, Greenpeace turned individual advertisements on Facebook about the pandemic.
"During the Corona crisis, politics opened the largest wallet of all time," the organization wrote in an advertisement.
This money must be invested in a green and sustainable future.
Greenpeace pays up to 3500 euros for an advertisement of this kind.