As expected, Labour have launched their own poster. I use ‘launched’ loosely as it only exists online because, as mentioned previously, they have no money. But their problems go further than that. Here are some off the cuff reasons as to why Labour’s poster is, simply, rubbish.

1. While their mockery of the Tories’ first poster was entirely valid, they have learnt nothing from it. The Cameron NHS poster was very easy to parody. It screamed out for it. Labour practically wet themselves with sniggering excitement over some of the public’s reaction. So why not make something bulletproof? It sounds difficult I grant you, but it is possible (cf. ‘Labour Isn’t Working‘.) Instead they have gone for what you see above, which, in order to parody, you simply swap the face for Gordon’s. See here for further details.

2. The original uses David Cameron’s face. As mentioned before, any use of opposition imagery, unless your slogan is brilliant, is only going to further their cause to the casual viewer (imho – I do not work in marketing). Not only that but in this instance the greyed out section of the advert is less obvious at first glance, so in fact what you initially see is Cameron’s face and the phrase, “We are committed to the NHS”. Inspired.

3. Derek Draper is behind it. This won’t matter one iota to the general public, but to those engaged in Westminster gossip it tells you everything you need to know about the Labour Party’s current state of disarray.

4. Aside from the completely insane, nobody actually believes that David Cameron ‘Wants to scrap your right to see a cancer specialist within two weeks’, because, whatever people think of him, they know he isn’t actually Satan himself. He does not wish death upon people. It simply isn’t believable (Shane Greer explains further). The wider point here is that negative campaigning has got to be really on the money for it to resonate (cf. ‘Labour Isn’t Working‘). But none of this matters because:

5. It’s only on the internet, so nobody’s going to see it. It’s not even on their homepage.

Better luck next time chaps.

P.S. As for the Tories’ second poster and the controversy surrounding it, have a read of Cathy Newman’s Fact Check blog.