Government defends graphic Covid-19 ad after backlash

A ‘deliberately’ graphic Covid-19 ad has sparked controversy, but the government insists it’s all about getting jabs in arms.

A confronting Covid-19 ad depicting a woman on the verge of death is deliberately hard to watch, the Health Minister says.

The 30-second clip, depicting a woman apparently in her 20s or 30s gasping for air on a hospital bed, was filmed last year, but the federal government held off running it as no outbreak was deemed serious enough to warrant it.

The government has been forced to defend the ad, reminiscent of the “Grim Reaper” HIV ads in the 1980s, after it prompted a backlash over claims it was too confronting.

A more temperate series of ads, depicting arms on ordinary Australians with the moniker “Arm Yourself”, began last week, but Health Minister Greg Hunt said the escalating situation in Sydney called for a more explicit response.

“This is a deliberate, strong message which says that, given the outbreak in Sydney, anybody can catch it, anybody can pass it on and anybody can suffer agonising consequences,” he told 2GB radio on Monday.

“So stay at home. Please be tested and, if eligible, please be vaccinated and get your second dose. People have been fantastic.”

A new Covid-19 ad shows a young woman gasping for air on a hospital bed.

Greg Hunt concedes the ad is deliberately hard to watch. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Covid-19 taskforce commander Lieutenant General John Frewen accepted the ad was “confronting” but insisted the government did not take the decision to run it lightly.

“There was serious consideration given to whether it was required and we took expert advice,” he told Today on Monday.

“It is confronting but leaves people in no doubt about the seriousness of getting Covid, and it seeks to have people stay home, get tested and get vaccinated as quickly as they can.”

NSW on Sunday confirmed another 77 cases, 31 of which had been in the community while infectious, and Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned she would be “shocked” if the number did not exceed 100 on Monday.

General Frewen said the “concerning situation” had prompted the government to shift an additional 300,000 doses to NSW over the coming fortnight.

“The Delta variant is proving to be very difficult to contain, so we’re working very closely with NSW authorities and standing ready to help them in any way we can,” he said.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the ad was designed to shock Sydneysiders into action as the situation deteriorated.

“This is about shooting home that this is a serious situation and can get anybody. The fact we’re actually debating this I think says to me that the campaign we’ve approved is working,” he said.

The age of the woman in the ad has sparked controversy, with most younger Australians still ineligible to receive their vaccine.

Lieutenant General John Frewen concedes the ad is ‘confronting’ but says it will ‘rally’ Australians to get vaccinated. Picture: Martin Ollman / NCA NewsWire

But with 11 of the 52 people in hospital across NSW under 35, Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek warned the Delta variant was “hitting younger people as well”.

Labor had long demanded a national Covid-19 advertising campaign, which Ms Plibersek said was delayed as a result of the government’s sluggish vaccine rollout.

“Perhaps the reason it’s taken so long is if you encourage people to go and get vaccinated, you’ve got to have enough of the vaccine available. We simply haven’t; we’ve been absolutely behind the eight ball in getting another vaccine for Australians,” she told Sunrise.

Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen, whose western Sydney electorate is in the grip of the outbreak, said the issue was “not vaccine hesitancy so much, it’s vaccine scarcity”.

He accepted there was a role for “pointing out the consequences of not getting vaccinated” to those that were hesitant about the jab but said the new campaign lacked the “creative spark” of the Grim Reaper ads.

“That was a very tough message, a very stark message, but in a very creative way. I think the government really needs to rethink this advertising campaign from scratch. It’s too late, and it’s pretty low impact,” he told ABC radio.

He also dismissed the “Arm Yourself” campaign as “very low energy”.

“I don’t think that’s going to have any impact,” he said.