Covid bereavement campaigners have claimed that M&C Saatchi ‘shouldn’t be anywhere near’ the Covid-19 inquiry, and that the decision to hand it a £1.6m three-year contract is an ‘absolute disgrace’.
Appointed earlier this month to produce adverts for Every Story Matters, a body set up to help people share evidence to the inquiry, the agency has been accused of having a ‘conflict of interest’ after working with Public Health England throughout the pandemic.
M&C Saatchi has produced numerous government campaigns over the last several years and has emerged as one of Downing Street’s preferred agencies for public sector campaigns.
At the height of the pandemic’s initial wave in summer 2020, M&C Saatchi was hired by Public Health England to create a campaign encouraging obese people to lose weight in order to help them better cope with the potential effects of Covid.
“This is incredibly disappointing. M&C Saatchi were working with Public Health England throughout the pandemic and have an obvious conflict of interest. They shouldn’t be anywhere near the Covid Inquiry, never mind have responsibility for how it reaches those worst affected by Covid-19,” Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK spokeswoman Jean Adamson said.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning
“Unfortunately, many of the bereaved now won’t participate in Every Story Matters because of M&C Saatchi’s involvement, so they’re achieving the opposite of what the inquiry is paying them £1.6m of taxpayers’ money to do. It’s an absolute disgrace.”
The Covid-19 inquiry has so far spent £3.5m on Every Story Matters alongside a range of engagement and commemorations. An additional £109,000 has been spent on strategic comms.
Over 12,000 people have already shared their personal tragedies in Every Story Matters, which enjoy the support of over 60 major organisations, including Age UK, Marie Curie, Shelter, Sense and the Royal College of Midwives.
Adamson continued: “Bereaved families have been incredibly clear with the inquiry how inappropriate they consider the involvement of M&C Saatchi to be.
“For the inquiry to tell us they hadn’t renewed their contract and then go ahead and do it anyway is deeply deceitful and sends a clear message to those worst affected by the pandemic: ‘We are not going to listen to you and we are not interested in your concerns.’”
