What is it about slick modern-day political videos? Despite all the ambitious intentions of the people who conceive them, they rarely turn out as planned once people scratch their shiny surface.
Simon Busuttil tried his hand at one on car-free day last September. Under the wonderful autumn sun, the Opposition leader was seen emerging from his Lija home, donning a helmet, and proudly declaring he was cycling to the office that day.
What followed was a set of nicely produced shots of the journey which terminated at the Nationalist Party headquarters in Pietà. Dr Busuttil emerged, looking fresh and healthy, bidding an unseen person ‘good morning’ – before a message flashed on screen: ‘Beat the traffic. Cycle to work. Keep fit.’
Fine sentiments. But the initiative was predictably tarnished when the obvious was pointed out: that vehicles were required to film his cycle ride and that the Opposition leader’s official car had to make the journey to the office anyway – if for nothing else than to carry his bag.
Fast forward to the new year, and Joseph Muscat walks into the property of a couple who have just bought their first home.
He sips coffee in their ‘brand new’ kitchen, before launching into a whole spiel about how government initiatives had made this possible. A ridiculously long political broadcast followed, complete with an even more ridiculous grand piano perched on a cliff.
But beyond the naffness of the whole thing, a more salient fact was revealed: the couple featured in the broadcast had not benefitted from Labour’s schemes at all. They had bought their property in 2008 when Dr Muscat was still talking about how he was going to change the Labour Party.
The question that emerges from the second video, certainly more than the first, is: were the electorate being conned or is this an acceptable form of political propaganda?
One school of thought would seem to suggest that what is being portrayed is imagery rather than a real state of affairs, and as such, a degree of artistic licence is permissible.
That’s fine as far as it goes. But this was not Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie by the sea, but a politician, a Prime Minister no less, delivering a new year’s message to the people.
Even though people know the video is made for propaganda purposes, that does not mean that fiction can be passed off as fact. The least the electorate has a right to expect from its politicians is a semblance of truth or reality in the situation being presented to them.
Perhaps more insulting is that the makers of these videos apparently think that people will not notice. Or could it be something even worse than that – that they do not actually care?
This government is young and to a certain extent has been dynamic. Things are happening and the economy is moving. It also knows it still has significant electoral support.
But do these factors give it licence to act with impunity?
There are people within the government who believe it does. Sure, it may not cost them the next election because a huge majority is going to be difficult to lose, but there will come a point when people get sick of being taken for granted or being treated as fools – and that point might come sooner than some seem to think.