Robin Brown

There aren’t a lot of right-wing comedians, and of those right-wing comedians I can think of very few that are funny.

It’s long been a source of debate as to why this is the case, but the last few weeks have, I believe, provided the answer.

The battle ground has been the MyDavidCameron posters spoofing Conservative Party posters that have variously displayed an uber-Photoshopped Cameron, a gravestone implying a £20K Labour death tax, and a number of demographic groups explaining why they’ll be voting blue this time around.

The spoofs were pretty funny, with some genuinely inspired political satire. Crucially, it was all rather gentle too – a spot of light-hearted rough and tumble at a time when political campaigning seems genuinely vicious.

It was a spot of typically British lampoonery, with Dave Cameron copping it for his smooth brow, well-to-do background or his silly soundbites, as well as some comment on Tory policy.

Labour had the sense to generally stay out of it, and social media and politicos with a touch of Photoshop skills did the rest (as an aside it’s also interesting to ponder the political make-up of social media and geeky types, but that’s another article).

Inevitably, the right starting coming out with its own versions. Only this time there were two crucial differences: the spoofs weren’t funny; and they were often plain nasty.

Among the hilarious efforts at the MyLabourPoster blog were pot shots at immigrants and those on welfare.

But almost every single one displayed a kind of grammatical, political or – more to the point – satirical illiteracy.

They’re clearly created by people with little understanding of politics, and no comprehension of comedy. And if they have been through an editorial filter, it’s a remarkably inept one.

Spite and bile are the key drivers behind the MyLabourPoster images, and they provide a valuable insight into how necessary the filter used by the My DavidCameron team was. They kept it sharp, funny and civil.

And raising the bar was a charming effort from an artist called Louis Sidoli, which mocked up Brown as Hitler.

Explaining his reasoning, Sidoli offered the following:

These images tell you all you need to know: ‘This is Gordon Brown – the facts are staring you in the face – vote for someone else’

So, there’s no double meaning, innuendo or twist in the tail here, what you see is what you get – Brown is like Hitler.

Proving he is no student of satire, history or politics, he goes on to explain:

Of course it is provocative, but if you think about it, there are strong similarities: Both started out as chancellors, both bullied their way to the top and seized power without being democratically elected, both tried to rig the electoral process, both prone to flying into uncontrollable rages and both caused huge economic damage to our country etc…

In another piece, called Psychologically Flawed, Brown gets the ‘satan treatment’:

[the] demonic lurid green face clashing with bright orange background, which hints that this person is truly diabolical! The red hand and cufflink symbolises the budget deficit / the red hand of socialism or ‘being in the red’.

Iain Dale defends the posters, with a rather pathetic ‘the Left did worse in the 80s’ line that echoes the way the Right in the US justify anything that’s beyond the pale, though he doesn’t even acknowledge that the posters are vague and unfunny, regardless of how offensive they are.

I genuinely don’t think those on the Right that have lauded the anti-Labour posters get this.

Their response has said far more about those backing the Conservative party than the MyDavidCameron images ever did.

I can’t image Cameron, doing his best to bury the image of the Tories as the nasty party, can think them helpful.

After the Conservatives’ own misfires with the tombstone-death-tax poster, the spoofs have raised some rather ugly truths about many who are anti-Labour.

The anti-Europe, anti-benefits, anti-immigration undertones to many are an ugly reminder of persistent elements of Conservative policy and the mindsets of certain supporters.

Moreover, it reveals how basic the thinking of those agents of the Right out in the web is on social media, engagement and, yes, humour.

Clifford Singer, behind the MyDavidCameron site and arguably an agent of Left, has devised a well-conceived and executed viral marketing strategy that is plainly successful in its reach and its impact.

It’s hard to see who the tory posters will appeal to, beyond people who already share the same views. That’s a massive social media, marketing and satire fail right there. I’d hazard a guess that they could even end up backfiring on the Right, so nasty are some of the examples.

Singer goes on to include a summary of the lessons learned from the experience and an explanation of the thinking behind the site.

Lesson Five is ‘Political satire is hard’. Indeed satire is hard, particularly if you don’t really understand what it is.

Fox comprehensively proved this a couple of years ago with its appalling and short-lived 1/2 Hour News Hour – billed as the Right’s answer to the likes of The Daily Show and Colbert Report.

Timing, an eye for the absurd, an understanding of the form and a knowledge of the audience are all required for the successful lampoon.

Which is why Singer is retiring MyDavidCameron before it gets tiresome or simply unfunny.

Because there’s nothing worse than an unfunny joke missing the mark. Just ask the Right.

• Full disclosure: Two of my own posters are on MyDavidCameron