How to extend a lockdown

Stats

Behind closed doors…

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PM: So do we end it or extend it?

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Stephen of Stats: The model shows if we hold on for another two weeks we can come down to almost zero. We have a good chance of eliminating the virus.

Health

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Doc of Health: We’ve got pretty low numbers. Businesses want to get back to work. Their protests are getting louder.

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PM: We need a spin on this. Stephen, how about you go on TV and radio first thing in the morning, saying we need two more weeks. Then I’ll make the afternoon announcement saying we’ll extend for one week. I’ll start by saying what a grand job everyone’s done, how patient they’ve been. Then I’ll bury the extension about Minute 8. And then Doc, I’ll hand over and you back me up.

PM

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Doc of Health: Queen's Knight to f3?

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Stephen of Stats: That's the story.

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Voice-over

Classic PR crisis management communication. Leak bad news early on. Follow up with good news that the curve is flattening. Bury the less good news that we need to keep pushing it down. Game it. End with a sports analogy. We’re only at half-time. Need to keep up the pressure. We’re all in this together. We can do it.

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A win-win retribution: Wall Street II

Narrative Profile: Wall Street I (blue) & Wall Street II (red)

Wall II follows Wall I’s narrative… with a twist…
Saturday night was a good night to stay in and watch a movie. Except I watched two.
Two?
Two the same. Well a prequel  followed by a sequel. Wall Street the original and…
Money Never Sleeps?
The very pair. And they are so similar.
Because of Michael Douglas?
That but more than that. It’s the narratives. They have an identical narrative profile. But with a twist in II.
Ah. Bad old guy vs innocent newbie?
Bad old guy corrupts innocent idealistic newbie who then outwits bad old guy. Bud in Wall I gets a confession on tape of Gordon Gekko and Jake in Wall II derails Gordon with a movie of his grandson on CD. Media denouement, both times.
You’d think Gordo would have learned not to trust media.

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Voice-over
Media. You can imagine Oliver Stone thinking, “Bud wore a wire and taped Gordon to get him put away for twenty years. But in Wall II, I’ll have Jake give Gordon a film of his grandson’s ultrasonic scan (a representation of a representation) to reel him back into the family and give back the 100 million.

Wall I: Young idealistic newbie (Bud) uses medium of sound recording tape to attack Gordon. Destructive retribution.
Wall II: Young idealistic newbie (Jake) uses meta-media to subdue Gordon, defeat him, win the money back, and bring him into the family. A win-win retribution.