Niche socialist marketing

I recently saw this fly poster on some street furniture and it struck me as so bizarre it must be a genuine attempt at political marketing.

Socialist Appeal is a group that was part of the Militant group in Labour but now operates separately as the Labour Party tries to distance itself from anything called socialist. It would appear Socialist Appeal are trying to appeal to a certain type of socialist. People who are happy to describe themselves as communists. 

There aren't many actual communists around these days. Among my friends I know one avowed communist - a guy I've known since my schooldays who is a card-carrying member of one of the communist parties. (He even cheerfully describes himself as a Stalinist.) 

Trying to appeal to communists specifically seems like a very narrow focus for targeted advertising. I can't imagine many people look at that and think 'Yes, I do happen to be a communist, actually. This must be an important message for me."

And then what is the message for the minute fraction of the population who would say yes when asked if they were a communist? Well it's simple - Get organised!

I can think of lots of revolutionary slogans: "Rise up!" "Cast off your shackles!" "Choose your side!" "Fight the power!" "Codiwch Cymru!"

"Get organised!" is, um, well, laughably condescending. "You need to get organised!" sounds like the sort of thing an exasperated mum would say to a sloppy teenager who proudly packs his own case for the school activity week and forgets to include any underwear. 

It wouldn't inspire me to join the movement even if I was a communist reflecting on my level of organisation and admitting it was lacking. 

So, overall, as a recruitment message, I don't think this is effective. It's guerrilla mass advertising aimed at a very narrow target audience. And the message is uninspiring even if it manages to reach those people. 

I don't think the capitalists have much to fear from this. Which might not be a surprise. After all, capitalists tend to be better at marketing.