Marketing professionals mock ‘Get Ready for Brexit' adverts

Trade magazine 'Campaign' has mocked the government's 'Get Ready for Brexit' ads as 'cynical and sinister propaganda', naming it their 'Turkey of the week'. Picture: UK Government - Credit: UK Government

Marketing industry professionals have skewered the government’s ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ adverts as ‘cynical and sinister propaganda’ in a hilarious review.

Campaign magazine, which covers advertising, media and marketing, has named the government’s video advert its “Turkey of the Week”.

The government has come under criticism for the £140 million campaign which spans a wide range of media including billboards, print adverts, and has even ended up on The New European podcast.

As the campaign does not acknowledge the Benn Act, which rules out leaving the EU without a deal, opposition MPs have called it a thinly-veiled election campaign rather than a public information one.

READ: MP threatens to report ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ campaign to advertising watchdogBut those in the know about marketing have their own reasons to slam the adverts.

Campaign’s Omar Oakes wrote that his colleagues had been looking forward to seeing how the Cabinet Office campaign, which was executed by marketing agency Engine, would look.

“The stakes couldn’t be higher,” he wrote, outlining the many areas of public concern over Brexit that the government needs to address.

But having watched the brief advert, he called it a “communications abomination”.

He pointed out that the simplistic instructions like “check your passport” barely scratch the surface of the extensive information needed by the public, especially EU nationals, business owners and students.

He also criticised it for its unimaginative execution.

“Whether it’s the internal-comms vibe of the bored voiceover lady or the budget-busting B-roll footage of people walking through airports or snorkelling, there’s something here for both Remainers and Brexiters to hate,” he wrote.

“If you even noticed this film appear on telly, you’d have forgotten about it.

“Perhaps this is all a surreal attempt to induce the country into a coma and, after years of slumber, we’ll collectively wake up and discover this political crisis was a bad dream.”

He also wrote: “It pains me to see the good and talented people of Engine wasted for such cynical and sinister propaganda.