I Really Like You (lost unreleased political campaign video; 2015)
Image taken of Nick Clegg during filming
Status: Lost
In the lead-up to the 2015 UK General Election, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg starred in a campaign video emulating the music video to Carly Rae Jepsen’s 2015 release I Really Like You. The campaign film has never been released.
Context
The Liberal Democrats entered the 2015 general election campaign in poor electoral shape, polling at single figures, having suffered a steady decline in popularity since entering into coalition with the Conservative Party after a historically successful campaign in the 2010 general election.[1][2] Finding itself in a “survival election”, the Liberal Democrats struggled to present a compelling message.[3] Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg found himself in a similar position to his party. Whereas the 2010 election had been marked by “Cleggmania”,[4] by 2015 Clegg was a distinctly unpopular leader,[5] with some incumbent Liberal Democrat MP’s rejecting his offers for a campaign visit.[2] It was in these difficult circumstances that the party would try to find new ways to sell itself to a sceptical public.
The video
Looking for a way to demonstrate that the party was “fun”, the Liberal Democrats would commission London-based production company Create Productions Ltd. to create a remake of Carly Rae Jepsen’s I Really Like You music video starring Nick Clegg.[6] Clegg would play the role of Tom Hanks, interacting with various members of the public, with the party hoping that the video would be a way for the leader to “go viral”.[6] Filming would take place in Gravesend, Kent on March 19 2015, the same day Danny Alexander unveiled the Liberal Democrat’s pre-election budget.[6] Alongside Clegg, the commercial would feature various dancers (reportedly all from the central Liberal Democrat headquarters) wearing yellow Liberal Democrat t-shirts, and various extras comprised of a mix of local party activists and production assistants from Create.[7] Owing to published accounts and leaked material, many of the shots featured in the video have been detailed. The video maintained the original song without alterations and was described by a production insider as “not quite shot-for-shot, but a decent attempt” at a remake.[7] It maintained elements from the Carly Rae Jepsen original, such as a shot of Clegg walking past three women swiping right on his tinder profile.[7] Other scenes known to have been shot include Clegg signing a table tennis bat and hitting a ping-pong ball, being interviewed by a reporter, posing for selfies walking past dancers and a yellow Mini, high-fiving an extra, and embracing two extras while waving.[7][6]
Aftermath and availability
Although Clegg reportedly “seemed very enthusiastic about his role and really got into it” while filming, he would quickly change his mind, with the Times reporting that upon ending filming he would comment “Why the f*** did I do that?”.[7][6] Clegg’s feelings about the video were shared by the wider party, with insiders concluding the video “made no sense”.[6] They would ultimately decide not to use the video, with staff “sworn to secrecy about its existence”.[6] The Liberal Democrats would suffer a historic loss in the 2015 general election, losing 49 of their 57 seats.[8] Nick Clegg would subsequently resign as the leader of the Liberal Democrats.[9] Knowledge of the videos existence would reach the public after a report by Matt Chorley of The Times on the 21st of July 2016, with the story being picked up by news organisations such as Huffington Post and ITV News.[6][10][11] These reports would prompt a response by the Liberal Democrats, now under the leadership of Vince Cable, confirming the videos existence and stating their intention to keep it unreleased.[11] Although the video remains unreleased, material relating to its filming has been made public. These include professionally shot images of Clegg during filming, as well as behind-the-scenes footage depicting the filming of several scenes.[12]
Gallery
Behind the scenes image of Clegg while filming.
Behind the scenes image of Clegg while filming.
Behind the scenes image of Clegg while filming.
References
- ↑ YouGov polling for March 2015 Retrieved 24 April 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Phillip Cowley & Dennis Kavanagh, The British General Election of 2015, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016)
- ↑ Olly Grender, “Chill Wind: The Liberal Democrat Campaign” in Political Communication in Britain: Polling, Campaigning and Media in the 2015 General Election Campaign (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)
- ↑ Huffington Post article detailing Clegg’s popularity in the 2010 election Retrieved 24 April 2022
- ↑ [ https://ipsos.com/sites/default/files/migrations/en-uk/files/Assets/Docs/Polls/political-monitor-march-2015-tables.pdf March 2015 polling by Ipsos MORI] Retrieved 24 April 2022
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 The Times article on the video Retrieved 24 April 2022
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 New Statesman article featuring comments from a production insider Retrieved 24 April 2022
- ↑ 2015 general election results Last retrieved 24 April 2022
- ↑ BBC News article on Nick Clegg’s resignation Last retrieved 24 April 2022
- ↑ Huffington Post article on the video Last retrieved 24 April 2022
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 ITV News article on the video Last retrieved 24 April 2022
- ↑ Sky News article containing high quality footage of Clegg walking down the street