The UK‘s ruling Conservative Party has cancelled a competition offering Love Island-style merchandise to young voters, because not even the political establishment is immune from hijacking the show’s sunkissed charms.
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Prime Minister Theresa May‘s party raised a few questions when it advertised “Love Island water bottles” inspired by the personalised containers given to contestants on the massively popular reality TV show.
A message posted to the Tory’s Instagram Story said “we’re giving away Love Island water bottles for the final (obviously). Some with a political twist, some not so much. Either way you’re going to be staying hydrated.”
Instead of bearing a simple name, an Instagram Story post showed a knock-off bottle bearing the phrase “Don’t let [Labour Party leader Jeremy] Corbyn mug you off.”
Catchy.
Naturally, UK media organisations sought comment about the bottles – and the competition’s potential for trademark infringement. Hours later, all mentions of Love Island were stripped from the post. Soon after, the competition was entirely removed from Tory social channels.
An ITV spokesperson did not confirm to The Guardian whether the network asked the Tories to cut it out, but they did reiterate that authentic merch is only available on the Love Island app and webstore.
The failed promotion comes as the Conservative Party struggles to convince young voters that its policies are, you know, worth supporting. Currently, the Tories are working out how exactly to implement Brexit, a plan which was unpopular among younger demographics during the 2016 referendum.
Voters also charged towards Corbyn’s Labour Party in the 2017 general election, making things even shakier for the Tories.
There’s also something funny about the Brexit torchbearers piggybacking on the success of Love Island considering the fact the show is all about a bunch of Brits holidaying in Europe, but hey.
