Gef the Mongoose, Howard's Der Sturmer?

[Augustus]

13 minutes ago, Donald Trumps said:

Are they proper journos?

Don't be absurd.

[Donald Trumps]

Well, I thought I ought to ask . . . .

There are professional journalists both in the Cabinet Office media team, & the Manx Radio newsroom - why hire external media at the taxpayers expense to do your bidding?

It can surely only mean that the professionals wouldn't touch the message with a barge pole

[VinnieK]

1 hour ago, Declan said:

Their wide-eyed naivety towards the government was to be expected, that is their usual tone of voice on any subject. You would think their target demographic, millennial avocado eaters, are now old enough and have enough life and work experience to know Gef's whole shtick is patronising. And of course Gen Z don't use facebook. So hopefully they'll grow up or go away before the next

I can't help but wonder how many millennials/members of Gen Z were clamouring for a nostalgia piece about Griddles. KFC, maybe, but Griddles?

The typeface is horrible and fails a fair bit of accessibility criteria, but it's the quirky, BBC3-esque "how do you do, fellow kids?" tone that I can't get past. Once I read something like 'Dr Al popped into Gef HQ today to record an exciting podcast' on a website, I know I'm somewhere I don't belong.

 

 

[Anyone]

The actually went on this mongoose site for a look. I assume it’s aimed at those who would watch Jackanory. And I’m being generous ,  drivel is better.

[maynragh]

The tone bordering increasingly on sycophancy (especially noticeable towards certain MHKs) was slightly off putting prior to knowing that they were in receipt of government income. 

The owner of another of the 'mainstream' media outlets was foaming at the mouth on FB when Gef started asking questions at the press conferences, presumably he was the one who yanked Robertshaw's chain to get the question asked. Does anyone know if the others (apart from MR) are paid for such PR services? 

MR have their journalistic independence theoretically protected, whereas another entity presenting itself as an 'independent' news outlet which does not have such an agreement with government (and is in receipt of government funds) places itself in a difficult position. Especially such a small enterprise, which presumably doesn't have many other patrons of equal economic strength. If they were running ads and infomercials for Nestle you wouldn't expect to see any critical articles on the same. There's no such thing as truly independent outside of subscriptions models I guess.

It's a shame, it would have been nice to have another truly independent outlet dedicated to asking coherent and intelligent questions. 

[Mr Newbie]

11 minutes ago, maynragh said:

It's a shame, it would have been nice to have another truly independent outlet dedicated to asking coherent and intelligent questions. 

I’m not sure that you’re grasping their brand positioning right. It’s a site centered around the concept of a talking Mongoose. What insightful and independent journalism and intelligent questioning do you think a cartoon mongoose should primarily be responsible for? 

[Derek Flint]

22 hours ago, Max Power said:

Chris Robertshaw queries government support of Gef the Mongoose. I am a little uncomfortable with this, but maybe I'm being paranoid?

I’d like to see the marketing campaign that was planned. Who precisely it was aimed at, what measurements they were relying on and what the ROI was. Who else did the money go to, and precisely how much of that 10k went to each.

our cabinet office Comms team is an expensive animal. I have a bit of an issue when we are spending further monies on stuff of arguably little benefit.

[maynragh]

3 minutes ago, Mr Newbie said:

I’m not sure that you’re grasping their brand positioning right. It’s a site centered around the concept of a talking Mongoose. What insightful and independent journalism and intelligent questioning do you think a cartoon mongoose should primarily be responsible for? 

That's the thing isn't it. Prior to Covid it was just a 'digital magazine'. Then they started asking questions during emergency press conferences, which sort of indicates they're no longer just a lifestyle entity. 

Gef reappeared on FB 20th March. Last post before that was Sept 2019, and there was nothing relating to government in the 6 months prior to that.  FB feed makes it clear it was 'revived' specifically in response to Covid. I wonder if that was prompted by government support? It would be interesting to know when they were first approached. 

 

 

 

 

[Mr Newbie]

6 minutes ago, maynragh said:

That's the thing isn't it. Prior to Covid it was just a 'digital magazine'. Then they started asking questions during emergency press conferences, which sort of indicates they're no longer just a lifestyle entity. 

Gef reappeared on FB 20th March. Last post before that was Sept 2019, and there was nothing relating to government in the 6 months prior to that.  FB feed makes it clear it was 'revived' specifically in response to Covid. I wonder if that was prompted by government support? It would be interesting to know when they were first approached. 

Oh well you’ve hit upon a clear conspiracy that I might have overlooked now I read that well presented information you’ve just posted. I read the answer to Robertshaws question above. It reads to me like the total spend for the wider campaign was £10,000 of which “Gef” got some of that. It’s reads like a typical civil servant reply to me. Designed to get people looking in one direction to avoid what actually went on in another. So in reality it seems that Gef received only a small proportion of £10,000. So you might assume absolutely nowhere near £10,000. 

[Frances]

As the 'original' mongoose was the invention of a somewhat strange young girl who had it seems a wide vocabulary of rather coarse language and apparently enjoyed playing to the gallery of some deluded journalist from London, the reuse of the moniker would appear to have keep to the founder's vision.

[maynragh]

4 minutes ago, Mr Newbie said:

Oh well you’ve hit upon a clear conspiracy that I might have overlooked now I read that well presented information you’ve just posted. I read the answer to Robertshaws question above. It reads to me like the total spend for the wider campaign was £10,000 of which “Gef” got some of that. It’s reads like a typical civil servant reply to me. Designed to get people looking in one direction to avoid what actually went on in another. So in reality it seems that Gef received only a small proportion of £10,000. So you might assume absolutely nowhere near £10,000. 

I didn't mention the amount at all. To me the amount is essentially irrelevant unless you know how much it represents to them, and we don't. The point is that this entity reappeared specifically in response to Covid, has been overwhelmingly positive about the government response, is now presenting itself as a 'news' outlet and is in receipt of government funds. That's not a conspiracy, it's just facts.  


There was also this slightly incongruous incident where they tried to do a survey.
 

Presented in the same style. It went down like a lead balloon. Poorly constructed and a lot of comments wondering what the ulterior motive was and pointing out that the structure seemed to be directing responses. MLCs taking pot shots at government employees in the comments section. All very odd for a lifestyle brand, but in the context of an entity in receipt of government funds it seems slightly more than odd.   

[TheTeapot]

Quote

This article is sponsored by the Isle of Man Government.

https://gefthemongoose.com/blog/gl4k54rww5unc8td0tda6r9fwuro8p

[Mr Newbie]

16 minutes ago, maynragh said:

That's not a conspiracy, it's just facts.  

I’m not sure it is as you have presented very few facts.

[VinnieK]

1 minute ago, Frances said:

As the 'original' mongoose was the invention of a somewhat strange young girl who had it seems a wide vocabulary of rather coarse language and apparently enjoyed playing to the gallery of some deluded journalist from London, the reuse of the moniker would appear to have keep to the founder's vision.

I'd be well in favour of Gef if it employed a wide variety of coarse language over the syrupy kookiness. But I again have to acknowledge that this clearly isn't for me, and that's fine.  If I want a foul-mouthed, alcohol-fuelled local media outlet, I'll just have to found it myself.

Lord. . .in addition to the piece on Griddles, there's an article about Ron Smith's on there.  I look forward to the surely-imminent retrospective on Kappa Jackets, Spliffy Jeans, and getting inexpertly felt up in Casey's.

[TheTeapot]

Here's another one sponsored by the IOM Government. Can someone please explain why?

https://gefthemongoose.com/blog/eat-drink-snap-and-spend-local