Government messaging

[OliveTree75]

Hello,
Been thinking recently how in years to come the Covid pandemic will most likely be studied in education all over the world.
What do you think the views on the government messaging will be in the future?
Looking back now, I find some of them hard to look at. We have been subjected to so much fear and whilst I agree we had to take action, I can’t help but wonder if some of these posters were a step too far.

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I completely agree, and the overuse of hazard tape has been shocking. The messaging in the posters, and telling people it's their 'civic duty' not to use public transport. Sustainable transport! (Grant Shapps actually said this). Awful.

It was shocking to a lot of people at the time.

But sadly, many, many people were terrified by it. Not the government though, eh, with parties and that.

I remember looking at all the fear propaganda and wondering if I’d stepped into an alternate universe. It was madness.

It did a good job though. Look at the people now (some of my family included), who still think covid will definitely kill them and are terrified of normal life.

That's really shocking. I'm not in the UK and I'd heard a little bit about the tone of the UK public messaging but I hadn't actually seen those adverts. I'm genuinely taken aback. They look they were designed to a) terrify people and b) shame people.

In Iceland we had messages like 'Together we can do this', 'Civil defence is in our hands', 'Masks help'. It was all positive stuff that I think was intended to encourage solidarity and optimism.

@PuffinShop

That's really shocking. I'm not in the UK and I'd heard a little bit about the tone of the UK public messaging but I hadn't actually seen those adverts. I'm genuinely taken aback. They look they were designed to a) terrify people and b) shame people.

In Iceland we had messages like 'Together we can do this', 'Civil defence is in our hands', 'Masks help'. It was all positive stuff that I think was intended to encourage solidarity and optimism.

Terrify and shame has been used all the way through, from getting people to stay inside to getting vaccinated.

The most horrifying thing though is that it worked a treat.

Actually, if they studied about covid yeas later, the number of death is scary enough, I think. So those ads would be justified, imo.

@PuffinShop

That's really shocking. I'm not in the UK and I'd heard a little bit about the tone of the UK public messaging but I hadn't actually seen those adverts. I'm genuinely taken aback. They look they were designed to a) terrify people and b) shame people.

In Iceland we had messages like 'Together we can do this', 'Civil defence is in our hands', 'Masks help'. It was all positive stuff that I think was intended to encourage solidarity and optimism.

I’m from somewhere with similar messaging and I’m not completely sure that messaging would have worked in the U.K., or in England at least. Partly because Boris is the wrong person to give that message without it sounding horribly jingoistic, partly because there’s more of an individualistic attitude and less of a community minded one.

That community minded attitude is there but there’s enough people that would ignore rules because it’s their right not to wear a mask or to see whoever they want that you need something harder.

Some of those posters did go too far though.

The look in your eyes and the anti going out are totally over top fear messaging and obscene.

Professor Lucy Easthope has some useful points about what an awful tactic this was on her Twitter.

Actually, if they studied about covid yeas later, the number of death is scary enough, I think. So those ads would be justified, imo.

Depending how many years later say 50-100, the amount of deaths worldwide will be a little blip on a world population level.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though, playing devil’s advocate here, some of these may have been designed when we did not fully understand transmission, severity etc

It’s an interesting topic and I have thought about all the messaging not just posters

But the daily deaths and cases which worked as effective tools too

Plus the suppression of all other harms - no real acknowledgment of cost to children for example or the mounting economic costs which were extreme

I also found the messaging re Omicron extreme and it turned out the SA Dr was right, yet that was fought against

Nabarro’s this is serious bit, along with society will collapse

Even Chris Whitty, who has been excellent, I think took a misstep with omicron which cost £1bn plus

I think in 10’years time we’ll realise the death toll from covid was not actually as bad as it was

And we’ll look at something that I the 70s/80s would have been a very bad couple
Of years of flu to a complete overreaction driven by social and 24/7 media

There are already studies coming out that show lockdowns did not actually achieve anything re the virus.

Other than give the health anxious a feeling of SOMETHING was being done.

I honestly think if thatcher had been in charge and this had hit in the 80s we’d never have locked down and we’d not have had the mass hysteria (other than the militant left saying they were trying to kill them off)

I also think the media found out how powerful they can be in terms of behaviour change and causing reactions on mass level by using fear etc

I doubt lockdown could've happened for covid type danger levels before widespread internet access, for two reasons.

One, millions of people were able to work remotely in a way that couldn't have happened in the 80s: not all the population of course, but enough of a critical mass to be significant. And then also because relatively high observance of lockdown restrictions, especially earlier in the pandemic, was quite reliant on most people having at least some access to the substantial entertainment options offered by the internet.

Take away one or both of those things, which even 15 years ago we didn't have in the same way, and the picture would look very different.

Some of those posters are an absolute disgrace- I've always said that I'm much more afraid of people's attitudes to covid (basically fascist / judgemental tendencies towards policing the behaviour of others) throughout this pandemic than the disease itself. Fucking terrifying.

@Monsterathai

Some of those posters are an absolute disgrace- I've always said that I'm much more afraid of people's attitudes to covid (basically fascist / judgemental tendencies towards policing the behaviour of others) throughout this pandemic than the disease itself. Fucking terrifying.

Same here

Thirded.

I read an interesting summary comparing it to the messaging on cigarette packets. Smoking is a behaviour that is probably a good idea to discourage long term, whereas this was over kill for common every day changes to activity that were only for the short term.

I think they're all absolutely hideous and will have left people with a great deal of terror, but for me, 3 women on a bench outside were never are risk. Letting people think they were is unforgivable.

@LemonViolet

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though, playing devil’s advocate here, some of these may have been designed when we did not fully understand transmission, severity etc

I agree 100% with this. And also with the poster who stated that when you look back at the death toll, those posters can be justified. I know of many families that have lost parents and other family members to covid. In particular, I know of one family that lost 3 daughters from 3 generations. Grandmum, mum and daughter. And another family where a woman lost both her brothers and mother. When their children grow up and study covid at school, those posters paint a very real picture. I think we (me included) forget that some of us were lucky to not even get symptoms with covid, but some families will never be the same again.

The whole point of these type of public health campaigns is to shock. So they did the job at the time. Not sure what the problem is

They are nowhere near as shocking as ones in the 1970s. Seat belts, bleach, pylons, train tracks, 'dark water' etc. These were broadcast during childrens TV as well

The end justifies the means is not good public health. You also have to think about what putting the frighteners on people does to them. You have to consider shame, stigma and long term impact on the population's trust and willingness to engage.

Willingness to engage is a big one

Most of this was by consent from majority

Not sure I’d be willing as I was at the beginning of it happened again

@Flaxmeadow

The whole point of these type of public health campaigns is to shock. So they did the job at the time. Not sure what the problem is

They are nowhere near as shocking as ones in the 1970s. Seat belts, bleach, pylons, train tracks, 'dark water' etc. These were broadcast during childrens TV as well

Do your live the rest of your life like you're in the 1970's? I thought we'd moved on a bit from attitudes / ideas that worked nearly 50 years ago

The HIV campaign had to be undone a fair bit re shame around that

I think we have similar fear lag from this