Cynicism2.0
Thu, January 14, 2010 at 01:53PM I’ve been driving past a big billboard recently near my local town (Huddersfield) and something about it (even at 30 miles an hour) looked wrong.
It’s of David Cameron and has him staring out, with a slightly far away looks saying something like “I'll cut the deficit, not the NHS." Which is a poor line in that its about “I” not ‘We’ so not a great party line and reads as negative, not commanding or upbeat.
But what struck me most was the stare and also the unsettling plastic look of the photo.
It transpires that it was heavily airbrushed (actually digitally reworked but that old school term still applies).
Pretty much all public / fashion / Advertising portraits will be cleaned up in some way, of course.. But this looks like it could be Dave’s 2nd Life Avatar.
I’m not Tory bashing here (ok, a bit), the thing I wanted to note was that with social media and quick-to-build web technology what would have stayed within the realm of dismissive articles in the Press, the chip wrappers of tomorrow, has taken on a viral life with the launch of http://www.mydavidcameron.com/.
The Original Poster
One of the Spoofs created on mydavidcameron - this one by the very funny http://www.bbdo.co.uk/blog/
Satirizing pompous or ill-judged political grand standing or false portrayal (literally) isn’t new but now you don’t just laugh once, you laugh at every new user (citizen) ‘s take on the subject and for much longer.
The democracy of scorn, as a cynical Brit I’m all for it.