Chilling coronavirus ad shows how quickly the virus spreads
A Scottish public health ad is dividing opinion due to its graphic depiction of how quickly the coronavirus can spread, as deaths around the world steadily inches towards the staggering figure of one million.
The ad shows a woman at her grandfather's house, touching numerous surfaces and transferring the highly contagious coronavirus to each one.
At the beginning of the ad she has some green slime on her face, but it steadily end up covering surfaces all over the kitchen as she makes a cup of tea.
Oblivious to what she's doing, the green slime ends up everywhere, including the cupboards, kettle, milk bottle, and even the tea bags.
While waiting for the tea to brew, she watches a video from a night out, which is seemingly how she caught the virus.
After giving the tea to her grandfather, he says, "Lovely cup of tea," however, he now has the green slime on his face as well.
The ad is attempting to ensure people stick to social distancing guidelines and finishes by saying: "Don't pass coronavirus to those you love."
One Twitter user wrote: "Genuinely upset at that horrible coronavirus ad by the Scottish govt of that girl making her grandad a cuppa tea. Totally dehumanising and just plain upsetting. Disappointed."
Another added: "This should have been banned."
However, some thought the ad was doing a good job of showing how fast the virus can spread.
One user said: "Wow! Effective!" while another said: "WOW! This Scottish ad certainly makes an impact!"
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First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has been slammed for the advert with some saying the imagery is too dark.
According to the Daily Express, consultant forensic psychologist Dr Keri Nixon spoke on Sky News about the ad, saying it is horrifying and would scare children.
"I was quite frankly horrified when I saw that advert.
"The music and message of don't infect your grandparents, there will be children watching that who will be absolutely terrified at touching their grandparents.
"Just imagine if a child had a grandparent who they were hugging and then a few days later that grandparent died.
"Whether that is COVID-19-related illness or not, they will live with that forever."
She then suggested that they could have done the ad in a more positive way, like having a child washing the green slime of their hands.
Keri also spoke about the mental health impact of the virus, saying the ad could be counter-productive to people's overall mental health.
She revealed she sees many children and teenagers who are terrified of catching coronavirus, to the point where one patient is refusing to go to school.
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