David Cameron unveiled a new Conservative poster today showing a long, bumpy road stretching away into the countryside. “Let’s stay on the road to a stronger economy,” it implored the voters, who will have to decide whether to remain on the Tories’ stretch of tarmac or switch to someone else’s at the general election on 7 May.
Launching our poster in Halifax. The destination is clear: a stronger economy - and a brighter future for everyone. pic.twitter.com/jWK0e56ODG
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) January 2, 2015
Cruel commentators on Twitter were quick to claim that this was a “road to nowhere”:
At the Tory election launch. Poster depicting road to nowhere. pic.twitter.com/UHK60LYu0l
— Jon Cronshaw (@HxCourierJon) January 2, 2015
People complaining about new Tory poster? Can't find a thing wrong with it? pic.twitter.com/2PC47Q5LBH
— Biff Bean (@BiffBean) January 2, 2015
Or indeed the road to Mordor ...
Here is my humble version of the new #ToryPoster for #GE2015! #Conservatives pic.twitter.com/Sxvl1xmGLN
— Andrew Scott Crines (@AndrewCrines) January 2, 2015
Other tweeters felt its message could be improved:
At least the new Tory poster is honest. pic.twitter.com/qiakLQtfVo
— David Schneider (@davidschneider) January 2, 2015
This should be the new Tory Poster campaign, it's more accurate... pic.twitter.com/sdgpstFVa6
— Mark Rayner (@county0_0) January 2, 2015
Or decided that a bullet-train speeding through made it a better poster:
New Tory election poster is pretty, but pretty misleading. This is what countryside will look like if they win> #HS2 pic.twitter.com/wEnrppnZvx
— Ciarán Norris (@ciarannorris) January 2, 2015
Others merged it with the Balustrade Layard meme:
You're all mocking that Tory election poster, but at least someone really likes it. pic.twitter.com/3JjuXr8w43
— David Whitley (@mrdavidwhitley) January 2, 2015
The poster did not win much accolade from advertising industry experts either. The perfect image of the straight road through gently rolling green countryside was described as looking “a bit French” by one advertising expert.
Philip Hesketh told the Daily Mail:
The irony is, when you look at it a bit closer, the scene looks a bit French. It’s very unusual to have a road that wide with no lines down the middle and stretching so far with no lampposts.
A Tory source said the image was “a composite of various images of UK roads”.
Some commentators pointed out that the poster’s message was actually very similar to Labour’s 2010 election broadcast “The Road Ahead”.
Others found the Tory boast of “the deficit halved” ironic:
Irony of Tory poster is that in 2010 they attacked Labour for pledging only to halve the deficit. Now they're boasting of achieving that.
— George Eaton (@georgeeaton) January 2, 2015
As the election campaign gears up, there’s a long road ahead for all of us.
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