It's not obvious why at first, but this campaign video from long-time Conservative member of Parliament from East Yorkshire Greg Knight has become the viral sensation of the campaign.
Suddenly, a 70s-style disco song breaks out, with decidedly unhip lyrics. "You’ll get accountability / with Conservative delivery! Make sure this time you get it right / vote for Greg Kni-iiii-ight!" The camera pans to a now empty campaign office, and zooms in on a plain Greg Knight poster (or as The New Statesman put it, "your intern zooms their old smartphone shakily, Blair Witch meets The Office." And scene.
This is yet another reminder that it does not cost a lot of money to grab people's attention online. Just a willingness to humiliate oneself.
Greg Knight Wins The British Internet
Initially, it's just an extremely low-budget video. Knight stiffly walks into his mostly empty campaign office (while one volunteer silently toils to his right). He speaks to the camera, which is unsteady, and introduces himself. In a limp, dour tone, he reminds people that they are directly voting for their local member of Parliament, but also "choosing a Prime Minister." He urges support for Prime Minister Theresa May, because "we want a strong a stable government, not a coalition of chaos led by Jeremy Corbyn."Suddenly, a 70s-style disco song breaks out, with decidedly unhip lyrics. "You’ll get accountability / with Conservative delivery! Make sure this time you get it right / vote for Greg Kni-iiii-ight!" The camera pans to a now empty campaign office, and zooms in on a plain Greg Knight poster (or as The New Statesman put it, "your intern zooms their old smartphone shakily, Blair Witch meets The Office." And scene.
Greg Knight Is Bringing Disco Back
The jarring shift propelled the video into viral territory, scoring over 500,000 YouTube views. British media quickly discovered the full-length version of Knight's disco theme song on his campaign website. Users quickly made parody videos. Several reporters credited Knight's resemblance to the popular, clueless fictional radio personality Alan Partridge.This is yet another reminder that it does not cost a lot of money to grab people's attention online. Just a willingness to humiliate oneself.