Workin', ravin', parachutin' and, er, patronisin' - Youth referendum video is a Twitter howler

Set to a loud soundtrack of thumping house music, the video slices scenes of young people living a party lifestyle - dancing in a nightclub, spraying graffiti on a wall and even parachuting out of a plane.

The video, which appears to have an aversion to the letters E and G, flashes up words “workin, ravin, chattin, roamin” before imploring viewers to “votin” in the June 23 referendum.

The video, which plays on a constant loop and was posted by the Stronger In campaign, has been branded patronising and widely mocked on Twitter.

Twayna Mayne said: “Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse somebody came up with #votin ...#EndofDays.”

Emma Brooke posted a picture of the campaign which shows an attractive young woman splashing around in the sea with the words “Chillin, Meetin, Tourin, #Votin”. She added: “Err guys @votincampaign. You do know that young people still use the letter ‘g’ right...?”

Charles Turner, a marketer, wrote on Twitter: “If we’re old enough to vote, we’re old enough not to be patronised... another reason why I think the #votin campaign is a disaster.”

The younger a voter is, the more likely they are to vote to stay in the EU, but historically turnout among voters aged 18 to 24 is far lower than their older counterparts.

Persuading them to turn up and cast their ballots on June 23 is a crucial part of the Remain campaign.

Education minister Sam Gyimah, a Conservative MP campaigning to stay in the EU, said the video is an attempt to reach out to the so-called easyJet generation.

Extolling the virtues of the EU, and the new video, on The Huffington Post website, he wrote: “And it is the young generation for whom the answer is most obvious: life is better in the EU.

“As the #VOTIN launch video points out whether it is ‘learnin’, ‘travellin’, ‘sharin’ - the ‘easyJet generation’ takes being in the EU for granted on so many levels, and reaps the biggest rewards from our membership.

“They will be the worst affected if Britain votes to leave, finding it harder to get a job, suffering the squeeze of lower wages and higher prices, and forfeiting their automatic right to work, study and travel abroad.”

He warned that the “easyJet generation could quickly become the lost generation” unless they turn out and vote.

But the video was quickly seized upon by the Brexit-backing opposition who joined in the mockery.

Tory MP for Braintree James Cleverly, who backs Brexit, wrote on Twitter: “Clearly someone in their 50s came up with the #votin “youth” campaign. It’s so bad I thought it was a parody by the #Brexit team.”

It is not the first time politicians have been accused of creating toe-curling videos in a misplaced effort to win voters.

The Conservative Connect group produced a bizarre campaign video backing Zac Goldsmith for London mayor, set to a toe-tapping multilingual song.

The video, entitled “Zac Goldsmith, he will win!”, showed images of the Tory politician with the words “It’s the start of a new dawn, let’s all fill our hearts with happiness. Zac Goldsmith will win, Zac Goldmsith is everyone’s favourite leader, victory will be yours.”

Will Straw, the son of former home and foreign secretary Jack Straw, is the director of the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign.

A Britain Stronger In Europe source told the Press Association they are happy with the video - despite the widespread mockery on Twitter.

He said: “We are pleased with the product. If it gets people out and voting it will have worked. We don’t want to comment on any adverse sarky reaction on Twitter.”

He denied the video was patronising and portrayed young voters simply as party-loving ravers.

He said: “The first two shots are about workin and earnin, that is about working and being able to work anywhere in the EU.”

He said the “party lifestyle is part of it” but young people can afford to go out and live it up because they are earning money working thanks to being part of the EU - the world’s largest single market.

Charlie Beckett, media professor at the London School of Economics, told the Press Association it is a “minefield” to come up with a political campaign ad that appeals to youth voters without being patronising.

He said: “Most young people aren’t interested in politics. I thought what was clever about the video was that it didn’t say words like democracy, it said things like the fact you can go on holiday and to college in other countries, which is much more relevant to young people than some nonsense about sovereignty.

“Obviously it is a minefield. Anybody who has ever tried to do things for ‘the youth’ - I mean what are the youth? Ninety per cent of the youth are pretty normal and quite straight, youth culture is obviously a bit more sexy. In a way they have done a nice halfway house here.”

He said voters need to be shown the referendum is about issues that are “tangible to them and not that it is not just men in suits shouting at each other - which this campaign has been horrendously”.

He added: “It might look a bit like dad disco dancing but I think that is what you have to do.”