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Sunday 10 May 2020

New Slogan Fails To Eradicate Virus

The briefing by someone rather adjacent to chief Downing Street polecat Dominic Cummings - whatever the denials from Robert Jenrick on The Andy Marr Show™ this morning - that generated Thursday morning’s slew of front page headlines heralding the ending of the lockdown showed that the Government of alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a total shambles when it comes to communications.
So it should have surprised no-one when the slogan which began “Stay at home” - pretty explicit - was known to be on the way out. Now we know it is to be replaced by a new slogan which commands us to “STAY ALERT … CONTROL THE VIRUS … SAVE LIVES”. Will remaining alert control the virus? Do we no longer have to stay at home? How about meeting up with friends? Picnics? Kick-abouts? Take a few beers for after?
The comment was severely adverse, and rightly so. Faisal Islam highlighted the obvious problem with the change in colour: “From Red to Green … The yellow and red was very specifically chosen to connote warning, hazard, emergency around the ‘stay home’ message ... Red & Green have v different meaning in safety regs”.
He at least tried to be kind. Others had seen enough. James Felton snapped “Stay alert? Are we supposed to sense it creeping up on us and karate chop the fucking virus now?” Jon Stone of the Independent mused “Can only assume this is some kind of desperate riff on ‘take back control’”. And the Observer’s Carole Cadwalladr concluded “This isn’t a strategy. It’s a communications disaster”. At the hands of Polecat Dom and pals.
LBC host James O’Brien was unimpressed. “They do slogans, lies & xenophobia. That’s it. They have nothing else. It’s been clear since the lie on the bus & the bollocks about Turkey & the German car industry. They have nothing else. I hope against hope that this doesn’t become even more obvious in the coming weeks”. He was not alone.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who had already suggested it was a mistake to drop the clear “Stay at home” message right now, saw the reasoning behind the new slogan and was not happy. "The Government are dropping #StayAtHome because Downing Street thinks it has been ‘too effective’. Work that one out if you can”.
Then Jenrick - looking for all the world as if he has replaced Matt Hancock as Bozo and Dom’s chosen fall guy - turned up on the Marr Show with his clear-as-mud explainer, as Paul Brand of ITV observed. “[Robert Jenrick] says new ‘Stay Alert’ message means ‘Stay alert by staying home as much as possible, but stay alert when you do go out by maintaining social distancing, washing your hands, respecting others at work.’ Clear?
Last Friday, more than 600 more deaths with Covid-19 were announced. The lockdown has been fraying ever since that slew of front pages last Thursday. And today’s front page news? As Liz Gerard has put it, “today's most important story? The PM has a new slogan. A new slogan. Just think about that. The most important story of the day for the best-selling paper is a new slogan”. If we just stay alert, we’ll, er, control the virus.

Except we won’t. Be very afraid, people. Your Government hasn’t got a Scooby Doo.
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5 comments:

Paul said...

I think you'll find that it's Prime Minister Alert Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson now.

rob said...

Stay alert - watch out for invisible muggers

Control the virus - if you need help when you've spotted them the PM knows someone who will do a hit job on it. But not too hard, nod nod wink wink, you know what I mean guvnor.

Save lives - well it's up to you as our government doesn't know or want to know how to do it.

The Whitehall farce rumbles on. With a PM haven taken over the drop your trousers Brian Rix role.

Ironic that we appear to be the only country in the world with a borderless control over the virus with a "Take back control of our borders" Vote Leave government in charge.

Anonymous said...

I take some small comfort that Britain will become a plague nation, barred from travel to anywhere in the world and all those 'blue' passports will be utterly useless.

Anonymous said...

Worry not.

Starmer's "forensic".

That'll "help". Or maybe not.

Anonymous said...

Stay alert! If they had have been alert to start with thousands of people wouldn't have died. A cabinet full of university educated Muppets. Everyone of them a first class honours degree in stupidity. Control the virus! How the f@#k can you? Tell me I'm all ears. Biggest crisis to hit the country since WW2 and we get the Muppets running things. God help us all.