The Government has launched a series of bizarre coronavirus adverts in a bid to get them shared online.
The adverts, which include deliberate errors, are designed to be mocked online so that people share them and spread the ‘stay at home’ message.
It is a repeat of the Tory party‘s general election strategy in which social media content deliberately crafted to look simplistic and basic was used to great success.
Several posts shared by the party during the campaign – including Boris Johnson‘s Love Actually election video and memes using a comic book font – ended up going viral due to their intentionally clunky execution.
The government’s latest social media strategy is no different, with a number of adverts created by No 10 digital guru Ben Guerin attracting derision on social media.
One of the adverts shows two women sitting on a sofa holding a bowl but a third woman’s hand appears to be visible in the shot.
Despite being lambasted online, it has remained on the 10 Downing Street Twitter account.
One of the adverts shows two women sitting on a sofa holding a bowl but a third woman’s hand appears to be visible in the shot
The post has sparked a fierce debate on Twitter among users shocked by the mysterious arm
Others adverts include a pie with the words ‘stay home’ baked into its crust, a doormat with ‘not welcome’ written on it and – in reference to Lord Kitchener’s famous WWI poster – a finger pointing at the reader alongside the words ‘Our NHS needs YOU to stay at home’.
Mr Guerin, who runs a New Zealand-based advertising agency, has been hired to work in Downing Street for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.
A No 10 insider told the i: ‘One of the key aims is to get it shared and talked about as much as possible. The engagement is good even if it’s over something like the hand being in a weird position.’
Giles Kenningham, a former adviser to No10, added: ‘There is such a wall of noise and mountain of information and fake news coming at people the ability to be heard or read is getting harder and harder. Therefore this tactic of uglifying social media content in an effort to boost its virality is a savvy move.’
Mr Guerin was hired after a successful general election campaign for the Conservatives. He worked alongside Kiwis Topham, 28, to drive the Tories’ online election campaign amid fears that dire winter weather could scupper traditional methods of targeting voters.
The pair were brought in by director of politics and campaigning Isaac Levido to toughen up the Conservatives’ social media efforts after a dire performance in 2017.
Others adverts include a pie with the words ‘stay home’ baked into its crust (pictured), a doormat with ‘not welcome’ written on it
One deliberately corny advert features the message ‘it’s called a living room for a reason’ alongside the government coronavirus slogan: ‘Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives’
The twenty-something pair formerly worked for the Tories’ Australian counterpart the Liberal Party, whose leader Scott Morrison surprisingly won an election earlier this year.
While there they were known for making ‘boomer memes’ – content deliberately crafted to look simplistic and basic. They targeted groups like older people online.
They also used content from popular television programmes like Game of Thrones to grab attention.
The intentionally clunky design of the memes meant they were shared widely on Facebook, which because of the way the platform works helped their harder political messages reach bigger audiences.
Their Love Actually video had initially been scrapped after being scuppered by a Labour candidate.
Guerin, 24, had scripted the scene and was prepared to start filming when would-be Tooting MP Rosena Allin-Khan released her own version of the 2003 Christmas classic, ruining his best laid plans.
Another advert – in reference to Lord Kitchener’s famous WWI poster – a finger pointing at the reader alongside the words ‘Our NHS needs YOU to stay at home’
Isaac Levido (left) has been brought into Downing Street alongside Ben Guerin (right), a social media expert from New Zealand who masterminded the Tories’ general election social media strategy, in order to push the Government’s NHS message during the lockdown
But in a last-gasp election push, they got the green light in the closing stages of the campaign and were given less than 24 hours to shoot, produce and edit the video in time for the final broadcast slot.
The video did receive a backlash, not least from Ms Allin-Khan who accused the PM of ripping off her idea.
Love Actually star Hugh Grant, who had been campaigning against the Conservatives in the election, grudgingly conceded it was a good video but proved the party had a lot of cash to spare.
Yet Mr Guerin shrugged off the criticism and said: ‘What we did with Love Actually shows that the most compelling content is creative, if you get the idea right you don’t need data, you don’t need targeting. A good idea will sell itself.’
The pair – dubbed by the PM as the ‘digi Kiwis’ -were hired by Mr Levido after running the digital operation for Australian Scott Morrison’s successful prime ministerial run earlier in the year.
Producing viral content – even if it was ridiculed – was the key to pulling in views and was replicated in this UK election.
From writing campaign slogans in the quirky Comic Sans font to switching the party’s Twitter handle to Fact Check UK during the TV debates, Mr Guerin and Mr Topham set out to make their mark online.
Boris Johnson recreating the memorable scene from Love Actually to hammer his Brexit message in the final stages of the campaign
The Conservatives have made their online campaigns far more overt and energetic in recent weeks since Boris Johnson and his new social media team took over
Elsewhere working to push the Government’s coronavirus message, Australian Isaac Levido has been central to the government’s communications strategy and its central slogan: Stay at Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives.
The political aides who were credited with helping the Conservative Party secure such a large majority in December, has been subcontracted by the civil service to ‘build a wall of noise’ around the central message of staying home.
Softly spoken and sporting a black beard, Mr Levido was director of politics and campaigning in Conservative Campaign Headquarters – and the undisputed chief of the Tory campaign.
After the results of the exit poll were revealed, staff at the party’s Westminster HQ chanted ‘Oh, Isaac Levido’ – mocking the tribute to Jeremy Corbyn which used to be sung by Labour supporters.
He is a former deputy to controversial Australian election guru Lynton Crosby, who masterminded David Cameron’s coalition-busting win four years ago.
But he also went on to work on Zac Goldsmith’s failed London mayoral campaign in 2016 and Theresa May’s disastrous general election campaign the following year.
More recently Mr Levido worked for Australia’s Liberal Party which surprisingly won an election earlier this year.