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 is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

Martin Casson at advertising agency M&C Saatchi, and refers to the Labour Party's "

New Labour New Labour is the political philosophy that dominated the history of the British Labour Party from the mid-late 1990s to 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The term originated in a conference slogan first used by the ...

" 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 politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

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'', 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 counterproductive, and a poll by the poster site company Maiden Outdoor found 64 per cent disliked the campaign. 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 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...

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 (bishop), Steven Croft, following the Confirm ...

. 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 did not 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."

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 Cultural depictions of Tony Blair British political phrases (1950–1999) 1997 quotations