I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, but in retrospect, this probably wasn’t the smartest marketing decision anyone ever made.
“How do you inspire coronavirus vaccine skeptics to flock to vaccination sites?” The Washington Post asked in January in a piece reporting on a marketing ploy to persuade COVID vaccine skeptics to get the jab. “Some in Germany hope that arranging 700 sheep and goats in the shape of a giant syringe will help.”
As if vaccine skeptics hadn’t already likened the vaccinated and boosted to sheep enough themselves.
News of the project first came out just after the turn of the year when a couple of what appear to be “making of” videos regarding the project began to circulate on reliably sheep-like establishment media outlets like The Post and CBS News.
A team-builder in Germany used about 700 sheep and goats to form the shape of a COVID-19 vaccine syringe on Monday, with food placed on the ground to lure the animals into place. The man said he wanted to spread the message about getting vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/yL0tSUQ6Jx
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 5, 2022
Trending:
The rest was basically history, as social media users tore into the irony of using this particular mammal, the very model of mindless obedience, to persuade people into, well, mindless obedience.
CBS’s tweet was viewed over 735,000 times and got plenty of replies. I didn’t read every one, but I couldn’t find a single example that wasn’t mocking the effort. There were multiple references to irony — some, in fact, thought the irony was so strong that they believed it had to be intended and that the whole thing was some sort of prank that news outlets fell for.
Do you think the vaccine was pushed on Americans before it was safe?
I can’t disprove that, but if that’s what it actually was, pretty much every establishment media outlet in the country bought it, from ABC News to The Washington Post. Even if the video is exactly what it claims to be, the symbolism appeared to be completely lost on them.
It clearly wasn’t lost on those who responded to the CBS tweet, however. Here are just a few examples:
Of course they don’t.
— jewelz (@big_jewelz) January 5, 2022
Yes
— Keyser Söze (@wrironsides) January 6, 2022
I’m from Germany and I’m embarrassed by this…
— Semia (@Semia_X) January 5, 2022
— ????? (@JamesInCLE) January 6, 2022
I’m not getting vaccinated for anything less than a pointless display of corporate servitude involving 1,000 goats. 700 is merely a slap in the face.
— Tim (@TimBurwell) January 5, 2022
I wasn’t convinced…until now. What was I thinking? These farm animals are completely right.
— JØⱧ₦₦Ɏ “The Big Guy” Ɽł₦₲Ø (@jtskaggs08) January 5, 2022
Tell me there’s an agenda without telling me there’s an agenda
— Joe™ ??? (@Noles_Titans_11) January 5, 2022
“The man said he wanted to spread the message about getting vaccinated.”
Did…uh ..did he tell you WHICH message he was trying to spread?
— Cary Bleasdale (@Cary_Bleasdale) January 5, 2022
And possibly my favorite:
— Steve Geyer ????? (@stevegeyer) January 5, 2022
Like I said: I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.
