Use of characters and metaphors in the management of COVID-19 health crisis. Review of public health communication in Spain and Mexico

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected more than 200 countries and there are about 10 million registered cases worldwide. This health crisis is generated sudden changes throughout society, and containing the spread of infection required that citizens be confined in their homes. Consequently, governments designed hygiene measures and implemented immediate actions to safeguard the well-being of their population. The objective of this paper is to learn about the communication strategy used by the public health authorities in Mexico and in Spain in response to the COVID-19 health crisis, and thus to learn about the options for communication resources that can be used in a health emergency situation. The websites and official Twitter profiles of each organization are reviewed to determine what story they created and how they included the use of metaphors in their communication. The main finding is the need to build a message that generates an emotional connection with the audience, giving the necessary prominence to the citizen and taking into consideration the cultural context in which it is acted upon.