Youth unimpressed with pro-EU vid
British voters evenly split ahead of referendum: YouGov
LONDON, May 25, (Agencies): A campaign video urging young Britons to vote to stay in the European Union in a June 23 referendum backfired on Wednesday, with young people taking to Twitter in droves to denounce it as patronising.
To a soundtrack of thumping dance music, the video shows images of young people while a series of verbs appear one after the other in capital letters: Workin, Learnin, Earnin, Shoppin, Ravin, Chattin, Roamin, Makin, Meetin, Sharin, Goin, Livin.
The images show young people engaging in purportedly typical activities such as spraying graffiti, parachuting and clubbing.
A message then flashes up: “Life’s better in the EU, but it’s at risk. 23rd June, make sure you’re #VOTIN”
The decision to drop the letter “G” from the end of all the verbs, in an apparent attempt to mimic the way some young people talk, set off a tidal wave of scorn on social media.
“Interested to read about the #votin campaign — it’s just like ‘voting’ apparently, but for young people,” wrote Twitter user Carys Davis.
Many others used the hashtag #cringin to express their views.
“#votin — not to be confused with #patronisin & cringin innit. Remainin in da European massive,” wrote Julian Shea, in his own take on faux youth language.
The official “In” campaign ploughed on, repeatedly tweeting links to the video, but its opponents on the “Out” side were quick to react with a tweet of a poster from the campaign, with the slogan “PATRONISIN CRINGIN EMBARRASSIN #VOTIN”.
Beyond the mockery, galvanising the youth vote is a serious issue for the “In” camp, as surveys show young people are far more likely to be in favour of remaining in the EU, but far less likely to vote.
A survey of 2,000 students published last week found that 63 percent of them did not know the exact date of the referendum, while 54 percent were not aware it was being held in June.
Sam Gyimah, a junior minister and member of parliament from the ruling Conservative Party who is leading the #VOTIN campaign, wrote in the Huffington Post that young people had most to lose from a British exit from the EU.
“As the #VOTIN launch video points out, whether it is ‘learnin’, ‘travellin’, ‘sharin’ — the ‘easyjet generation’ takes being in the EU for granted on so many levels, and reaps the biggest rewards from our membership,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, comedian Eddie Izzard threw his surreal wit behind the cam- paign to keep Britain in the European Union on Tuesday, calling June 23’s vote “the biggest decision of our lives”.
Izzard, known for his rambling monologues and cross-dressing, is appearing at a string of universities around the country to encourage young people to vote — and to back staying in the EU.
As well as drawing support from establishment figures in industry and politics, Prime Minister David Cameron’s push to keep Britain in the 28-nation bloc has attracted a string of entertainers.
These include actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Jude Law and Helena Bonham Carter, all of whom signed an open letter last week.
Decision
“Don’t let other people decide your future for you — this is the biggest decision of our lives,” was how Izzard summed up his message to AFP ahead of a debate at the University of Reading at the start of his 31-stop tour in 31 days.
He joked that the EU was set up to help Europeans make “beautiful stuff” and stop them from fighting each other.
“I say we’ve fought wars from Alexander the Great to World War II,” he said.
“Two and a half thousand years in Europe where we were fighting — in between that, we were making beautiful stuff, getting on, and then we’d do fighting again.
“The European Union was set up for that.”
Meanwhile, Britons are evenly split on whether the country should remain or leave the European Union, a YouGov poll showed on Wednesday, as the In campaign struggles with poor voter support for its leader Prime Minister David Cameron.
A YouGov poll for the Times newspaper put support for the Remain campaign at 41 percent, down 3 percentage points since last week, with support for Leave up 1 point on 41 percent.
Four percent of respondents said they would not vote while 13 percent still did not know which way they would go with less than a month until polling day.
The polls, which are being closely watched by financial markets for their ability to move the value of sterling, have been close in the run-up to the referendum, but the Remain camp had appeared to take a lead in the last 10 days.
An ICM poll released on Tuesday, however, showed the rival sides tied, and YouGov on Wednesday said the referendum was damaging trust in Cameron, after he warned about the risks to Britain’s economy and security if it votes to leave.