'The Empire Needs Men!' digital poster

This digital poster repurposes the text of a British First World War poster held in Te Papa's collection to reference the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The reworked text at the bottom plays on the image of the lion (which in the original poster represented Britain), to refer to the latest film version of The Lion King by Disney. Streaming giant Disney Plus entered the New Zealand market in November 2019 with both film versions of The Lion King (1994 and 2019) on offer. When New Zealand went into lockdown at 11.59pm on Wednesday 25 March 2020, many people turned to online streaming for home entertainment. Ellen Andersen, who repurposed this poster and released it on social media on 24 March, remembers wondering ‘how could I survive lockdown without online streaming??’

Andersen has also picked up on official government messaging seen from 20 March 2020 in her call to ‘stay home’. Government posters seen in city streets directed people to 'Stay home if you are sick' and ‘Stay home save lives’. During lockdown, anyone in New Zealand who was not an essential worker had to stay home in their own 'bubble' to prevent community transmission of the virus. Lockdown lasted until 11.59pm on 27 April 2020.

Covid-19

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a coronavirus first reported in Wuhan, China in late 2019. The World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020, making it the first pandemic to be caused by a coronavirus. The first New Zealand case was reported on 28 February 2020.

The New Zealand government instituted a four-level alert system on Saturday 21 March 2020 when it immediately went to alert level 2 (where the disease is contained but risks are growing); then quickly to alert level 3 on Monday 23 March (where the disease is increasingly difficult to contain); and finally to alert level 4 on Wednesday 25 March at 11.59pm (where there is sustained transmission). Alert level 4 eliminated contact as much as possible. Essential services were maintained, but non-essential businesses and institutions were closed, and everyone was directed to stay at home until Covid-19 was under control. New Zealand’s borders were closed for entry to almost all travellers.

The 'Lion poster'

Repurposing war posters is nothing new. The original 'Lion poster' was distributed throughout the British Empire during the First World War (1915-19) to encourage recruitment. It was repurposed as soon as it was printed in 1915, and tweaked to suit local audiences. A large supply of the poster was printed by the New Zealand government and distributed throughout the country. Even that version was reworked at the time (by the New Zealand Herald). Ellen Andersen's reworking is the latest homage to an iconic piece of wartime propaganda.