This study originated from the recognition that discussions on earned media have been deep and extensive, yet still confined to the realm of marketing communications. It was hypothesized that the dissemination of negative communications through earned media would negatively impact firm value and explored the role of advertising expenditures in this process. The findings revealed that an increase in negative communication regarding corporate crises on social earned media and traditional earned media leads to a decrease in firm value. When negative communications on social earned media increase, advertising expenditures mitigate the decline in firm value. However, in the case of traditional earned media, advertising expenditures did not significantly alleviate the decrease in firm value. This study highlights the influence of earned media at the corporate level and re-evaluates the importance of advertising expenditures during crises. Practically, it suggests the effectiveness of advertising expenditures as a means to overcome corporate crises.