Life in Ireland without the European Union would be “nightmarish”, a new advertising campaign run by Brussels now claims.
The paid videos — published on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube — depict a woman having a bad dream within which the European Union does not exist.
She experiences an ever-increasing list of calamities as a result, with her packages being damaged and delayed, her daughter being refused permission to visit her in Spain as a result of visa restrictions, and her phone cutting off because she did not have enough expensive roaming data.
https://x.com/Europarl_EN/status/2053022160801997078
It culminates with the revelation that she never got to meet her husband, as their first interaction occurred while they were both on an Erasmus exchange program.
“Life without the EU? Nightmarish,” a post by the European Parliament reads.
“No free movement, no returns on your shopping, no free roaming. It would be a nightmare.”
According to Meta’s transparency database, the European Parliament paid for the video to be shown to many of its users inside the EU, with Irish netizens explicitly targeted as part of the campaign.
This is on top of a set of static image advertisements published both online and on advertising boards throughout the country promoting the bloc.
Costing €3.3 million, this previous campaign claims that the EU is at the core of supporting “free speech” in Europe, as well as the “free press” and “free science”.
It is reportedly aimed at convincing those aged 18-30 to support the bloc amid increasing Euroscepticism amongst younger generations.
The campaign has already appeared on bus stop advertising boards throughout Dublin, with Irish internet users also being treated to video versions of the advert on YouTube, Twitch and Snapchat.
One official for the European Commission justified the expense by claiming young people do not sufficiently appreciate the bloc’s alleged support for democratic freedoms.
“Numerous studies and surveys show that young people across Europe are neither aware of the benefits and freedoms that come with living in a democratic system nor of the fact that these achievements are increasingly challenged,” spokesman Markus Lammert claimed.