Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is using memes and social media videos to make her case for people to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic.
What’s happening:
- Lightfoot has used multiple memes and social media videos to encourage people in Chicago to stay home during the coronavirus quarantine.
- Lightfoot started this in March after she shutdown of lakes, parks and beaches. Now, social media is filling up with photos of Lightfoot, turning her into a meme star.
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Lightfoot released a video on March 30 of herself camping out at home, too.
Why it matters:
- John Greening, a former global account director for Anheuser-Busch who now teaches branding at Northwestern University, told The Washington Post that Lightfoot’s method helps reach people who wouldn’t normally hear about the coronavirus news.
- He said: “It’s a positive tactic. The issue isn’t that the news isn’t comprehensible, but that it’s so negative that a lot of people don’t want to be bothered with it. This is a way to get into their heads. She’s making the message more appealing by taking these more contemporary tactics.”
- Chicago Magazine said; “At its base, leadership is about making people want to do what you want them to do, rather than forcing them to do it. No mayor has ever asked Chicagoans to make the sacrifices Lightfoot is asking of us. Not even Prohibition could stop Chicago from drinking, but Lightfoot just announced she’s ending alcohol sales at 9 p.m. If turning herself into a comic figure is what it takes to get the city’s attention, that doesn’t make her a cartoon character, but a smart leader.”