Big Brands React to Corona, Make Sanitizer Instead of Perfume, Face Masks Instead of Phones

Major companies around the world are joining efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic by switching production of their usual products to making and distributing free medical supplies.

Fashion journalist Jasmin Malik Chua highlights on Twitter the rarity for companies to shift away from products they make to help a nation, noting, “This kind of rallying of private enterprise for public good is rarely seen outside of wartime.”

In China, for example, several companies including Foxconn – which assembles Apple’s iPhones – switched to making facemasks. And in France, LVMH, the French luxury giant which owns brands such as Christian Dior, Guerlain and Parfums Givenchy, announced its plans to produce up to 12 metric tons of hand sanitizer and distribute them to French hospitals for free.