The UK has been one of the nations hardest hit by the coronavirus with some 133,000 infections and over 18,000 deaths to date.
Naturally, the country’s health system – the NHS – and its myriad of doctors, nurses and health workers have become heroes to the nation with everyday Brits stopping in the street to applaud their tireless work.
And now there’s a new and imaginative way the general public can thank the NHS and that’s by sending nude pictures of themselves to hospital staff.
The campaign’s called “Nudes for Heroes” and is the brainchild of London DJ and producer Alex Warren.
NHS workers interested in accessing the free gallery of random nudes simply have to fill out a form, upload a photo of their NHS ID and way they go. Even non-NHS staff can get a look in but will have to pay a £9.99 ($A19.50) per month subscription, which will then be donated to the NHS.
Interested in getting involved? Check out the website here. If so, you’ll need to sign a release form handing over all rights to your image and acknowledge that it could be downloaded and sent on to third parties.
Warren adds: “We’re looking for a range of nudes; arty nudes that can be classy, artistic, tongue in cheek or something to make our key workers day a little bit brighter. We want to celebrate diversity and empower people of all appropriate age to share nudes. You are welcome to hide your face to protect your identity.”
Meanwhile, it’s not been all fantastic PR for NHS workers. In an attempt to boost morale, staff at the Tavistock Day Case Theatre in West Devon filmed themselves doing a version of native Māori chant Ka Mate with black face paint on their cheeks and white tape around their heads. The words were changed to give it a coronavirus feel.
However, the video was quickly labelled as racist and “cultural appropriation” by Māori leaders.
Māori cultural advisor Karaitiana Taiuru telling Newshub in New Zealand: “There is no reasonable excuse why any semi-educated person with access to the internet, from anywhere in the world, to not know that mocking another person’s culture is offensive.”
Taiuru added that the headbands and face paint was also “reminiscent of culturally appropriated Māori dolls” as well as a “cultural stereotype” of what Māori people look like.
Staff at the hospital immediately pulled the video and issued an apology saying they had been inspired by similar dancing nurses across the UK.
In a statement, the hospital said: “We want to offer a wholehearted apology to those we offended with a video we posted on Twitter at the weekend.
“The video was intended as a show of our commitment as Livewell Southwest nurses to continue to work hard and care for people as we fight Coronavirus.
“We’ve really enjoyed seeing the video messages from nursing colleagues up and down the country and we are really sorry that our choice of delivery caused offence. Upsetting anyone was the last thing we wanted to do.”
