Best Election Virals

So in case you hadn’t heard, there’s an election happening right now. Tonight, one by one, seats for parliament will go one of many ways for one of many political parties. At the end of it all, there will be one of three men packing up their bags ready to hit 10 Downing Street. It’s been important for loads of really serious reasons, but for me it’s all about the LOLs. There have been so many hilarious viral parodies, some with a serious message, others just for fun, surrounding this election that I felt it was totally unfair to let the last night pass without at least taking a fleeting look at the best of the bunch.

First up, the king of them all, My David Cameron. Targeting itself firmly at the Tories, it lets you change almost all of their election posters to display any slogan of your choosing, as shown in the rather amusing example above. It’s bare jokes, although it has been around since January, so there’s not really many amusing things left to say. Feel free to give it a shot though. There’s nothing more satisfying than having Cameron’s face next to some nonsense about tea bagging. Right?

I’m beginning to spot a pattern here, but whatever. I’ve no idea how old this is, but it’s been all over everything over the past few weeks. Although it’s nearly three years old, it’s still brilliantly executed and perfectly calculated. Plus, it’s hilarious, perfectly summing up exactly what image problems the Conservatives will have overcome if they do emerge from this bloodbath as the top dogs. There are some great alternate versions here and here.

Of course, it doesn’t end with that pair; there’s the brilliant Daily Mail-o-matic, and the consistently amusing Fuck Yeah Nick Clegg. But I think that what all these say, if anything, is that the generation creating these parodies, the Web 2.0 generation, are finding it increasingly hard to take politicians seriously. It will take a radical change at this election, as well as the way that all MP’s engage with a socially-savvy younger electorate, to really re-establish politicians as people who are there for more than parody. As a closing note, the inimitable Jarvis Cocker had it all right back in 1997 when he recorded ‘Cocaine Socialism’ for Pulp’s This is Hardcore. Whoever you’re rooting for tonight, good luck.