RIP slick Tory PR: another Tory poster backfires

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

The last Tory poster-bomb, of a heavily airbrushed David Cameron, backfired dramatically – with thousands of satirical versions mocked up online and on the steets within days.

Tonight, the Tories have unveiled another poster, which is being installed at 18 sites across London, attacking Labour’s reported inheritance levy of up to £20,000.

It’s nasty, it’s macabre and – unfortunately for the Tories – it’s wrong: Andy Burnham denied that this is Labour’s policy at all hours before the slapdash poster campaign launched, remarking “I’m not currently considering that as a lead option for reform.”

Even the Spectator is disparaging:

“Now, you could say that this is all part of the rough ‘n’ tumble of politics; that all political advertising involves some degree of caricature; that Brown and Labour are guilty of plenty of misrepresentations of Tory policy themselves (see Danny Finkelstein here, the poster that Labour released earlier, or pretty much any government statement on the Tories’ inheritance tax plans); that you’ve got to fight fire with fire; and so on and so on. But it’s still dispiriting to see this brand of political communication spreading.“

Labour and Lib Dem supporters on Twitter are even more critical, already mocking the poster widely and creating their own slogans under the hashtag “MyToryTombstone”:

@eddyanderson: ‘R.I.P. Human Rights Act 1998’ #mytorytombstone

@Kaschwilder: 70% of my members want racial profiling. How long do you think I can keep them down? R.I.P Civil Rights #mytorytombstone #toryfail

@Oliver_Gbg: R.I.P. Burglars #mytorytombstone

@TheDancingFlea: R.I.P. Political Capital in Europe. #mytorytombstone

@Oliver_Gbg: R.I.P. Foxes #mytorytombstone

@ Labour_ JSC09: R.I.P Significant British involvement in the EU #mytorytombstone

@ Jon_James_101: R.I.P. Sure Start #mytorytombstone

RIP Centrally imposed clinical targets to ensure the earliest possible detection of cancer

@TChee: #mytorytombstone

@ BenCooper86: R.I.P. Voting Reform #mytorytombstone

@JTSmyth R.I.P: Great Britain #mytorytombstone

@ BenCooper86: R.I.P. Factually correct poster campaigns #mytorytombstone

@CllrTim RIP: the North #mytorytombstone

@JamesCowley: R.I.P NHS 1948-2010 – Dave Says Pay or Die. #mytorytombstone

@ Jon_James_101: R.I.P. The Economic Recovery #mytorytombstone

@ Jon_James_101: R.I.P. The BBC #mytorytombstone

@ Jon_James_101: R.I.P. The Ozone Layer #mytorytombstone

@EddyAnderson: ‘R.I.P Single moms’ #mytorytombstone

@Jezard7: RIP Truth. Why bother with real policies? When you can make stuff up about the other mob. #Mytorytombstone