There’s been a lot of political advert spoofery around recently, what with MyDavidCameron and some other efforts from the Right that were either nasty or just plain shit.
The Grauniad and Saatchi & Saatchi have got in on the act today with a series of very unfunny spoof election posters implying that Gordon Brown is to be presented as a kind of hard nut in the election campaign.
Political spoofs have to be either pointed or funny, in my opinion – preferably both. These spoofs are neither.
I happen to think that a lot of the MyDavidCameron ads were pretty funny. There were a lot of weak ones, and there were some that went for the jugular, rather than aiming for laughs, but a few of them really amused me – which is why they were so popular.
It’s interesting, then, to see a professional advertising agency fail to be funny or pointed, where everyday geeks, web types and the listless Mac-wielding millions managed OK.
‘Vote Labour – or else’ is the extraordinarily tired slogan on these posters, one of which actually has Brown dressed as The Terminator, along with the nonsensical slogan ‘Because I’ll never go away’. They’re fucking rubbish.
Really, I suppose it’s uncharitable to knock April Fool’s Day spoofs – at least they’re trying to show the human side of politics and journalism eh?
Then again, when adverts are this shit, why pull punches?
