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Original poster

Government messaging

178 replies

OliveTree75 · 12/02/2022 14:41

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
MarshaBradyo · 13/02/2022 08:48

but it's hard to just suddenly be absolutely fine with something we were told to be terrified of for the past two years

I think it will be hard for some yes, you can see it on here

All the messaging, not just posters, but media too was used to get the compliance needed to stop healthcare being overwhelmed. When that threat passes everything stops. Case reporting etc too. It’s going to feel different. Many will welcome it but if you felt protected by measures then maybe not,

RichTeaRichTea · 13/02/2022 08:48

@TimBoothseyes

I agree with you OP. 1 poster I remember was on bus shelters with a message along the lines of (can't recall the exact words), "Is your journey worth someone else's life?" It completely ignored the fact that I and many others needed to take public transport in order to get to our jobs in care. Things were shitty enough for us anyway, without the implication that we were the reason people were dying.
Aside from the message, what an absolutely pointless waste of money, given that it was generally only those whose journeys were essential who were taking the bus
LyricalBlowToTheJaw · 13/02/2022 08:51

@MarshaBradyo

but it's hard to just suddenly be absolutely fine with something we were told to be terrified of for the past two years

I think it will be hard for some yes, you can see it on here

All the messaging, not just posters, but media too was used to get the compliance needed to stop healthcare being overwhelmed. When that threat passes everything stops. Case reporting etc too. It’s going to feel different. Many will welcome it but if you felt protected by measures then maybe not,

Definitely. And this is what happens when the state tries to frighten the population into compliance. It's inevitable, and some people pay for it with increased anxiety and other mental health issues.
BestKnitterInScotland · 13/02/2022 08:57

Completely agree. The worst one was with the masked and crying medics asking "can you look them in the eye and tell them you have done everything you can to stop the DEATH?"

It's no wonder that my inlaws still think going to Aldi is like taking their lives in their own hands.

amylou8 · 13/02/2022 08:59

I think history will conclude that lockdown cost more life years than Covid.

TimBoothseyes · 13/02/2022 09:08

@BestKnitterInScotland

Completely agree. The worst one was with the masked and crying medics asking "can you look them in the eye and tell them you have done everything you can to stop the DEATH?"

It's no wonder that my inlaws still think going to Aldi is like taking their lives in their own hands.

That masked/crying medics one made me so angry, given that my mum caught it (and died), when she was in hospital receiving treatment for a non-covid illness which she would have recovered from.
TheKeatingFive · 13/02/2022 09:13

Yes I think it was totally unethical to terrify / emotional

TheKeatingFive · 13/02/2022 09:19

Sorry pressed too soon

Yes I think it was totally unethical to try to terrify / emotionally blackmail people into maintaining extreme lockdown rules.

It will be viewed very poorly by history, I have no doubt. We will see the knock on effects on mental health and trust in authorities for a very long time to come.

MrsPear · 13/02/2022 09:23

They managed to terrify many. You only have to look around when out and about to see the fear in peoples eyes. You see families wearing masks in cars together. You read on here of families limiting not only contact but physical touch. It’s maddening and makes me want to scream get a grip - if it was that serious would the civil service and politicians have been partying every night?!

Original poster
OliveTree75 · 13/02/2022 09:23

Trying to restart the 'State of Fear' threads' again, OP?

Got no idea what this means. And no, just genuinely interested in peoples views!

OP posts:
MarshaBradyo · 13/02/2022 09:24

There’s a lot of anger on other threads re testing and free PCR stopping

We’ve created a very dependent society that hasn’t understood why the measures were used and why they are ending

Original poster
OliveTree75 · 13/02/2022 09:28

I had to take my dd to A&E yesterday which is why I didn’t return to this thread. Anyway, the “look in her eyes” ones in particular I felt were too much. I remember seeing it for the first time on my way to Asda plastered all over our town hall, and wondering whether I should even be going or not! I also agree with the overuse of hazard tape!

OP posts:
Original poster
OliveTree75 · 13/02/2022 09:30

@Flaxmeadow

We found them far too scary, especially for our young audience

Hahaha seriously. You've got to be joking?

I’m not sure why you think that pp isn’t serious. Every time the adverts came on in the car I turned them off as they worried my children. Especially the awful “you are in a high risk area” ones.
OP posts:
TheVolturi · 13/02/2022 09:36

I agree op, these are crazy.

SexyLittleNosferatu · 13/02/2022 09:39

@amylou8

I think history will conclude that lockdown cost more life years than Covid.
Completely agree. I think it will be looked back on in horror. An interesting study in what people will go along with if the fear messaging is effective enough.
Kshhuxnxk · 13/02/2022 09:46

I know 7 people personally who had covid. 1 was ill,.1 died.
I know 4 people who lost their jobs due to covid.
I know 2 people who had nervous breakdowns due to covid..
I know 4 people who took their own lives due to covid.
Those posters helped to devastate lives.

JustBlethering · 13/02/2022 09:48

The government knew if they had any chance of getting people to comply with restrictions then they had to terrify us.

Jourdain11 · 13/02/2022 10:43

I remember taking my 8 year old to the shopping centre and seeing a huge version in the "If you go out, people will die" one. It's so OTT that I'm afraid I might have rolled my eyes. DD spent the next 2 weeks growling in a Voice of Doom "If you go out, people WILL die" whenever someone in our family went to the front door to take out the rubbish, go to the shops, etc.

Sparklingbrook · 13/02/2022 11:00

I have to say that I had never seen any of those posters before today. I suppose if you need to get a message out you have to be fairly bold, like the cigarette packets with the body parts.

I also agree with this though-

We’ve created a very dependent society that hasn’t understood why the measures were used and why they are ending

Original poster
OliveTree75 · 13/02/2022 11:10

We’ve created a very dependent society that hasn’t understood why the measures were used and why they are ending

Also agree with this 100%

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 13/02/2022 11:15

Yes, there's been thread after thread in this Topic proving that people have not understood much about the pandemic at all.Some of the questions asked show that.

hamstersarse · 13/02/2022 11:25

The posters and messaging was absolutely designed to frighten people, and it worked.

The fact it worked for the majority is the depressing thing for me. They knew that people were stupid and were simply proved right. So many people terrified when they had absolutely no reason to be ("mild illness for most people")

I would hope that people may be able to learn how to actually do a personal risk assessment following all of this, and maybe that is one of the unforgiveable aspects of the communications - they frightened everyone when the reality was this was not an 'equal risk' disease, it had a clear target market that was obvious from the start.

I look at 2 of my DS's friends who now have severe germaphobhia to the point that they have given up normal and previously enjoyable activities like football and am in absolute wonderment about what sort of conversations must have gone on in their houses. How did people genuinely believe that healthy children were at a serious risk of dying? To be fair to the government, they never actually said that. So where did people get this from?

It seems to me that many people are totally incapable of processing fear in a more rational way. It overcomes them, and cannot be anywhere near rational and grasp around for any old solution to relieve their fear, e.g. disinfecting your shopping, whether it works or not isn't really a consideration, it's about whether it reduces the feelings of negative emotion (fear)

Buzzinwithbez · 13/02/2022 11:26

I have to say that I had never seen any of those posters before today. I suppose if you need to get a message out you have to be fairly bold, like the cigarette packets with the body parts.

Except that targets something that people have a modicum of control over and is a permanent change that will benefit their health. - I'm not saying that I agree with this approach.

We can't control a virus. We've left many people terrified for the long term. The govt is now sending things back to some degree of normality without properly explaining what this implies.

Anyone who goes out and about now really needs to accept that they have a high likelihood of contracting the very virus that we were told we could control. Now, the only control people have is over their own actions.. And that will be variable when they need to function in the society we have

I didn't see many of the signs either. I drive and I don't watch TV and flip the radio over.... But I once caught one of the public information adverts and can see how it could badly affect the mental health of someone in the house with those being shown day in day out.

Flaxmeadow · 13/02/2022 12:00

So let's ban upsetting signs and reminders of health and anti crime campaigns. Cigarette packets, doctors waiting rooms, dentist pictures of rotting teeth, crime warning posters (the grooming gangs ones anyone?), hazard and zig zag danger signs near pylons are desteoying lives, terrorist warnings on public transport, drink drive ads. Everything. Any traumatising image to be removed and replaced with images of rainbows, chocolate rivers, unicorns, sparkly glitter and fluffy kittens

Sparklingbrook · 13/02/2022 12:05

Except that targets something that people have a modicum of control over and is a permanent change that will benefit their health

I guess so, be interesting to know if they had any impact at all, the pics are pretty gory.