An artist has been fighting the Tories’ campaign in his own unique way. And now, his work can be seen all over the country. Because people are printing his anti-Tory ads and plastering them all over high-profile advertising spaces.
Hit back
The Tories have been pulling out all the stops on their propaganda machine; from repetitive campaign slogans to highly targeted ‘dark’ ads on the internet.
But now, satirical artist Darren Cullen has given ordinary citizens the tools to hit back. He has designed a number of ‘anti-Tory’ posters and leaflets, which are available online to download and print. And members of the public have been installing them all over the country.
Honest Conservative messaging
One poster, which looks eerily like an official Conservative Party election advert, says:
We’re not shooting the sick and disabled in the street, but it gets the same results.
The poster is a reference to the thousands of sick or disabled people who have died after DWP assessments declared them ‘fit for work’.
Another uses the Conservative Party’s oak tree logo. But Cullen has made it look like a nuclear mushroom cloud over London. Accompanied with the text “Our Plan for Britain”, it’s a reference to the Conservatives’ preparedness to use nuclear weapons as a first strike, which Cullen says could lead to all out nuclear war.
People have been re-posting photos of the posters on social media:
https://twitter.com/BAMerchant/status/870204668953202688
https://twitter.com/Jo_zinaC/status/869174602005716992
Lots of people literally won't survive another Tory government. Get the #ToriesOut pic.twitter.com/OyBGuZhHXE
— Protest Stencil (@protestencil) May 29, 2017
Tories Out posters spotted in Milton Keynes! @darren_cullen https://t.co/o80yKeCCwV#Unelectable #ToriesOut #AdHackManifesto pic.twitter.com/3dtNYX7oDb
— Special Patrol Group (@SpecialPatrols) June 2, 2017
Get to your marginals
Cullen has now crowdfunded money to print 20,000 leaflets to send to marginal seats. The leaflets fold out to show a corrupted Tory Windows XP operating system crashing under the strain of Tory policies; a reference to the recent NHS cyber-attack, which Jeremy Hunt could have prevented.
Windows XP Conservative Edition by @darren_cullen. Poster downloads for this and more are here: https://t.co/ShiOH2R4Us #UKelection #Corbyn pic.twitter.com/CE7M3LsP7d
— Bean (@SomersetBean) June 2, 2017
So essentially, it doesn’t matter what tactics the Tories come out with. Anti-Tory sentiment is so strong that people are willing to hit back with creative vigour.
Get Involved!
– Find out how you can download and print the posters here.
– Get out and vote on 8 June.
– Read more from The Canary on the 2017 general election.
– Read and support independent news outlets that hold the powerful to account. Here are some we recommend. Please add more that you like in the comments:
The Canary, Media Diversified, Novara Media, Corporate Watch, Common Space, Media Lens, Bella Caledonia,Vox Political, Evolve Politics, Real Media, Reel News, STRIKE! magazine, The Bristol Cable, The Meteor, Salford Star, The Ferret.
Featured image via YouTube