While I am not taking the health implications of the Coronavirus for granted and recognises that the pandemic has affected everyone around the world, I ask if coronavirus is a recognised brand?

• On 11 February, 2020, the ICTV announced that ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)’ was the name of the new virus. The WHO renamed the disease, coronavirus disease. That's an IDENTITY for the brand.
• The logo of COVID 19 is often illustrated with the coronavirus spike protein, which is a structural and functional characterisation of the virus.
• Many governments have created communications campaigns. UK had 'Stay home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.'
• President Donald Trump insisting on using terms like the ‘Chinese Virus’ to describe COVID-19.
• Many have used the businesses and individuals has worked on co-creating this brand, making PPE and hand gels.

So should a pandemic be branded? For whose benefit? Better still, should it be left alone?

Theoretical explorations of these questions are relevant to practitioners, policymakers and academics in order to understand how governments are dealing with their campaign strategies, how business is joining the bandwagon by using the COVID-19 brand to build their reputation and to figure out how consumers are engaging with it.