New Labour, New Danger was an advertising campaign run in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Party during the run up to the 1997 General Election. It was conceived by

Creative Director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

Martin Casson at advertising agency

M&C Saatchi M&C Saatchi Group () is an international communications network headquartered in London, formed in May 1995. With more than 2,400 staff, the network spans 23 countries with major hubs in the UK, Europe, US, Middle East & Africa, Asia and Austral ...

, and refers to the Labour Party's "

New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...

" slogan.

Design

The main poster used in the campaign involved a picture of Labour Party leader

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

on a black background with a strip of the poster appearing to be torn off across the eyes of Blair. The eyes were replaced with a pair of "demon eyes" with the slogan "New Labour New Danger" positioned below the picture. A later poster used the "demon eyes" on a purse and accompanied it with the slogan "New Labour, New Taxes".

Response

The advert was praised by ''

Campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

'', who judged it had completed its objective of questioning Blair's character. The advertisement was claimed to have gained the Conservatives £5 million worth of free publicity. Despite being declared 'the best advert of the year' it was widely condemned as counter productive. The advert was condemned by the Labour Party as negative advertising. In September 1996, former Conservative Prime Minister

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

also criticized the advert. The Conservatives went on to experience their worst election defeat for more than half a century, with some journalists speculating that the poster contrasted unfavourably with Labour's more positive campaign. The Advertising Standards Authority received 150 complaints about the Blair advert, including one from the

Bishop of Oxford The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft, following the confirmation of his elect ...

. The ASA upheld the complaints and instructed the Conservatives to withdraw the poster, stating they believed it portrayed Blair as "dishonest and sinister" and also because the campaign didn't have Blair's permission to use his image. In 1999, the ASA decided to stop regulating political advertising, citing this advert as a particularly difficult case and saying: "The free flow of argument in the cut and thrust of open debate is the best antidote to political advertising that misleads or offends." A poll by the poster site company Maiden Outdoor found 64% disliked the campaign.

Legacy

In August 2012, it was announced that the "demon eyes" design would be used in the American film '' The Campaign''. The Labour Party's workers founded an amateur football team called Demon Eyes F.C. named after the adverts. The football team once won Thames League Division 1, before being disbanded.

References

{{1997 United Kingdom general election, state=collapsed Advertising campaigns Advertising and marketing controversies British advertising slogans Political posters of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) terms New Labour Tony Blair British political phrases 1997 neologisms