Yesterday we filmed again some of the people  who took part in the Party Election Broadcast. We asked them to just clarify why they agreed to be in the film. This is in response to the  media accusations that these were not real people but actors or paid “dummies” who said whatever we wanted. We hope that by seeing these films the truth will come out.  Off course people who don’t support Ken will not agree with the sentiments of the film, which is to be expected, but these people are as real as it gets and they deserve to be treated with respect. And so do their views. They chose to be part of this film because they care about London and wanted their views to be heard.

The creative idea of the film is that they are reading Ken’s script for the Party Election Broadcast. Therefore they all agreed to read  the script because it represented their own views and this is the idea behind the film. In fact some of them added in their own words and phrases. The idea we could dupe people into saying things they don’t believe or support is over estimating the power of Advertising Agencies and under estimating the intelligence of ordinary Londoners.

The brief for a Party Election Broadcast is to sell the candidate and what they believe in. It is an advert for the candidate.  It pretends to be nothing else. It is not a documentary. It is an ad for Ken to inspire people to vote for him. Boris has the same opportunity. The film  has bumpers to make it  clear it is a promotional film.  Agencies have, for ever and a day, been employed by political parties to produce their communications. Famously Mrs Thatcher and Saatchi and Saatchi. The idea that  the involvement of an Advertising Agency  is somehow inappropriate is nonsense and runs against the entire history of great political advertising and communication.

The fact that Ken cried is not surprising. Many of our Clients become emotional when they see their work on the big screen for the first time. It is designed to be powerful and moving. These people are powerful and moving. That is why we believe it works.