Covid conference sparks jokes online over ‘get boosted nOw’ poster

‘Could they have tried to make it look less like a Hula Hoops advert?’ asks one person on Twitter

Boris Johnson during a media briefing in Downing Street. The oversized O caused confusion (PA)

Boris Johnson’s Downing Street briefing on the deteriorating Covid situation spawned jokes and internet memes after the branding of the government’s new “Get boosted now” slogan drew comparisons ranging from Hula Hoops to Sonic the Hedgehog.

The prime minister fronted a press conference on Wednesday flanked by England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, and Dr Nikki Kanani, director of primary care at NHS England, in which the trio urged the public to take up the offer of coronavirus jabs.

Mr Johnson said the government was "throwing everything" at the rollout, “so please get boosted now”.

Across each lectern were the same three words, “Get boosted now”, with an oversized “o” in “now” used without explanation.

The branding left more than one Twitter user contemplating a Hula Hoops crisps connection.

The Wellcome Trust’s Dr Lindsay Broadbent wrote: “The Get Boosted Now campaign is obviously important… but could they have tried to make it look less like a Hula Hoops advert?”

BBC reporter Luxmy Gopal concurred: “'Get boosted nOw' - the new slogan font is making me crave hula hoops for some reason.”

Others pondered whether the jumbo golden circle had been inspired by Sonic the Hedgehog’s power rings…

…or had even been inspired by the nineties and noughties youth drama series Byker Grove:

The Independent would hazard a guess that the “o” stands for omicron, since the UK recorded a record number of Covid cases on Wednesday driven by the new variant. The Downing Street press office was not immediately able to give a definitive answer.