The Conservative Party was forced to hastily delete a social campaign poster after it was met with criticism and confusion, as well as accusations of breaching Royal protocol.
The advert, which declared Britain to be the second most powerful country in the world, featured a collage of images which attempted to represent Britain's "soft power".
But it was quickly pointed out that not all of the images featured were actually British, including a Swiss-owned container ship and a US fighter ship.
Watchers also pointed out that the England football team, pictured in the advert, has not won a trophy in years. The image featured in the advert was taken before a recent defeat by Brazil.
The campaign image also attracted controversy as a result of a breach of royal protocol. The Tory Party used a picture of the King, despite protocol dictating that the Royal Family remain politically neutral.
Meanwhile, the image of Rishi Sunak was seen to be ill-placed given he is suffering from record low approval ratings.
It was also pointed out that the advert didn't feature a single woman. SNP MP John Nicolson said: "Apparently there are no women in the ‘second most powerful country in the world'".
After the post was taken down, he added: "Was the King annoyed being used in this way?"
Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said he had "no idea" why the advert was removed, telling Sky he would "commend the sentiment" behind it.
The advert's claim that Britain is the second most powerful country in the world was based on the Global Soft Power Index 2024, a survey conducted by the consulting firm Brand Finance.
It ranked the UK as the second most powerful country in the world behind the US.
The latest campaign blunder comes just weeks after the Tories were forced to awkwardly delete an attack ad on Sadiq Khan because it showed footage of New York rather than London.
The caption on the advert, posted on X in support of Susan Hall's campaign, claimed "London under Labour has become a crime capital of the world".
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But part of the advert showed clips of people rushing through New York's Penn Station after false reports of gunfire in 2017.
It was pointed out on social media that the video featured the US, after which point it was taken down. A new advert was reposted with the clips of Penn Station cut out.
from GB News https://ift.tt/UKTJkaY
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