- Documented adverts created by the German government last week encouraged the country to be “lazy as raccoons” to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
- One of the ads, which was extremely shared on social media, shows an old man speaking about how in the “winter of 2020” people became “heroes” after doing “totally nothing.”
- Last month, Berlin’s tourism authority launched an ad campaign featuring an elderly woman in a floral pretence giving the middle finger to people who refuse to wear face coverings.
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The German government released a string of humorous adverts last week that urged the country to be “idle as raccoons” to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
In one of the adverts, which was widely shared on social media and has since drew more than 2.5 million views, an old man is seen reflecting on “the winter of 2020.”
“The fate of this country lay in our hands,” he authorities, alongside dramatic music. “So, we mustered all our courage and did what was expected of us, the only right thing — We did nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
“We were as sluggish as raccoons,” he adds. “Day and night, we kept our asses at home and fought the spread of the virus. Our couch was the front and our patience was our weapon.”
The video carve hurts between the “present-day” and “the past,” which shows a younger version of the man lounging on the sofa and watching television.
Watch the advert lower:
—Rachel Clarke (@doctor_oxford) November 15, 2020
Another advert follows a similar storyline with an old man demonstrating his “medal of honor” he received for “being brave” during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Before the pandemic, I was, without doubt, the laziest myself to tiptoe through this country,” he says in the video. “I almost never left my flat, played computer prepares without any kind of ambition, and ate cold ravioli straight from the tin because I was too lazy to heat it up.”
The advert cuts to inducements of him as a young man playing video games. The old man continues: “And when the virus spread, I remained the same lazy sack of potatoes that I was first.”
“But unlike me, the world had changed: to contain the virus, people were urged to stay at home, doing nothing all at once became a public service, laziness could save lives, and I was a champion in that,” he adds.
[embedded content]Sawsan Chebli, a lawmaker from the Social Democratic Party, praised the campaign, tweeting on Tuesday: “So strong. So heart-warming. And so damn important.”
Self-possessed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commented on the video, tweeting: “Have you seen Germany’s new ads about COVID-19? It doesn’t argument what language you speak, the message is clear. You can be the hero in the fight against this virus – and you don’t even have to do that much.”
This is not the first dilly-dally the German government has opted for humor in their coronavirus advertisements.
Last month, Berlin’s tourism authority launched a manoeuvres featuring an older woman in a floral mask giving the middle finger to people who refuse to wear face coverings.
—Panrot (@Panrot_) October 14, 2020
But not everybody was a fan of the ad race, with the editor-in-chief of Berlin’s Der Tagesspiegel newspaper, Lorenz Maroldt, saying: “The Senate seem to think that offending people is more successful than strict, clear rules with efficient controls. They failed with that absolutely,” according to the BBC.
Germany has reported almost 900,000 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and more than 30,000 eradications, according to a tracker by Johns Hopkins University.
The country is currently on a partial lockdown, which was implemented on November 2.