How are advertisers responding to the doom and gloom or the recession?

By producing uplifting campaigns, of course, which urge consumers to take a break from the credit cruch and bite into something positive.

Coke recently launched a new global campain with the tag line, "Open Happiness" – a change from the "Coke Side of Life" line introduced just three years ago – which will be rolled out globally in the coming weeks and months.

"Times are changing, and what people want and need right now is a time to pause and hit the refresh button, so to speak, and rediscover life's simple pleasures," Joe Tripodi, chief marketing and commercial officer for Coke told Ad Age recently. "We're not here to say Coke is going to solve the economic problems of the world or the Middle East crisis. Our view is that Coke is a small moment, a simple moment of pleasure in people's very hectic day. ... When you look back at the history of Coke, for a hundred years it's been that optimistic spirit. And that has certainly been reflected in the work."

And T-Mobile's wonderfully executed flashmob at Liverpool Street Station in London has proved to be one of the most successful viral campaigns of recent times, generating millions of hits on YouTube.