Does the young generation become heroes by doing nothing? With its controversial corona videos, the federal government is currently causing discussions.
The biggest goal of any advertising campaign? Right: attention. For this reason alone, the current PR campaign by the federal government under the hashtag #BesondereHelden can be rated as a complete success. But the reactions are mixed: some celebrate the Corona advertising videos published so far as great, others reject them as tasteless.
So far, the federal government has posted three videos online that let seniors have their say from a possible future. With dramatic music, an older man explains his experiences from 2020. He describes emotionally how his generation held the fate of the whole country in its hands. With martial words he expresses the current situation and naturally and intentionally awakens associations with a real state of war. But with an obvious wink.
"Our couch was the front and our patience was the weapon"
And how did he become the savior of the nation then? With doing nothing! They were "lazy as raccoons" at the time and thus prevented the spread of Covid-19. On the sofa, with junk food and telly, you became a "special hero". "Our couch was the front, and our patience was the weapon," continues a certain Anton Lehmann. For days and nights they "stayed home on their asses" and fought the corona virus.
"Become a hero too and stay at home." The short clips, which of course have a clear target group in mind, end with this sentence: The videos are a humorous appeal, especially to young people, to stick to the existing measures and, if possible, not to meet other people. Reducing contacts is currently the most important tool in fighting the pandemic.
A lot of praise, but also criticism on the web
However, the online campaign is sometimes accompanied with mixed feelings. Many users comment on the original Facebook post and are annoyed, for example, by "the shallowness and stupidity of our time". Even the obvious comparison to a real war would belittle the horrors and suffering of real armed conflicts. Even "pathetic propaganda" or "mockery of war victims" can be read.
Most of the time, however, the campaign received positive feedback. The well-known blogger Sascha Lobo even unpacks the return coach: "German Twitter is rarely more dodgy (and German) than when these brilliant Corona spots are found for cramp shit," he tweeted. Some people can be reached this way and that way. That's why all critics shouldn't let their "internal high school graduate conference" hang out for ten minutes.
The clips also have numerous advocates abroad. Among other things, the well-known British "Financial Times" journalist Henry Mace shared one of the clips with English subtitles and wrote: "I can handle the fact that the German pandemic fight is better than ours, but I don't think I can handle the fact that it is funnier."