Campaign of the week: Scottish government’s COVID slime advert
The Innovation team at Instinctif harness the best of the future to deliver market-leading ideas in the present. The team’s specialism spans digital strategy and marketing, data & analytics, and strategic brand. With the world and news agenda fast-changing around us, now’s the time to get agile in how we think and work.
This newsletter brings you the best of the week in the ‘new normal’, straight from the desk of the Innovation team.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, the four nations of the United Kingdom have pursued different approaches to managing the virus and communicating with the public.
Now, with Scotland finding itself under the spotlight with restrictions put on the movements of students in the country, the government has launched a new PSA ad campaign – and it’s divided opinion.
The advert aims to demonstrate how easily the virus can spread, showing a woman passing it on to her grandfather in a day-to-day setting.
The virus contamination is brought to life in the form of a green slime passing from everything the granddaughter touches – from cups to cupboards, surfaces to – finally – her grandfather’s face.
The video ends with a stark reminder: “DON’T PASS CORONAVIRUS TO THOSE YOU LOVE. 2 households, 6 people, 2 metre distance.”
Described by some on social media as “dreadful fear-mongering” and “turning humans showing love for their family into something scary and disgusting,” and others as a clear visualisation of how COVID is transmitted, the advert has made waves on social media.
Take a look at the advert and let us know what you think – is it alarmism or a reasonable reminder?
Tool of the week
This week’s tool is a practical – and physical – solution to the challenge of communicating keeping your distance. It’s the result of a new creative partnership that seeks to design aesthetically-pleasing signs to ensure we are all social-distancing, in both public and domestic spaces.
Good Measures is a project between two London-based companies – interiors studio InterestingProjects and vinyl specialist Puck Studio.
The designs are clear and impactful, instead of blending in as “white noise” like the usual safety hazard signs you see out and about.
Take a look at the designs and learn more about the partnership here
Top tip
This week’s tip comes from Senior Account Manager, Malini Parkash.
Unless you spent the last week under a rock, you would have spotted Sir David Attenborough’s Instagram debut. Attenborough fans flocked to the new account at record-breaking speed, and within four hours and 44 minutes he had gained over one million followers.
He swiped the title of gaining over a million followers in the shortest amount of time from Jennifer Anniston (five hours and 16 minutes), who had previously taken it from and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (five hours and 45 minutes).
But this is not just a numbers game. Sir David Attenborough crossed the communications frontier from radio to Instagram to inspire change and overcome the challenges that are holding us back. Like many others, I’ll be keeping an eye out for his next Reels update!