View source for Social:Dead cat strategy

{{short description|Introduction of a distracting topic}}{{Boris Johnson sidebar}}
The '''dead cat strategy''', also known as '''deadcatting''', is the political strategy of deliberately making a shocking announcement to divert media attention away from problems or failures in other areas.<ref name=Delaney/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Riley |first1=Charlotte Lydia |title=Dear journalists: please stop calling everything a "dead cat" |url=https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/dead-cat-strategy-meme-meaning |access-date=30 April 2022 |work=Prospect Magazine |date=19 November 2019}}</ref> The present name for the strategy has been associated with British former prime minister Boris Johnson's political strategist Lynton Crosby.

{{anchor|Etymology}}
==Origin==
While he was mayor of London, Boris Johnson wrote a column for the 3 March 2013 edition of ''The Telegraph'' in which he described the "dead cat" as a piece of {{wipe|Australia}}n political strategy about what to do in a situation in which the argument is being lost and "the facts are overwhelmingly against you".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Boris |date=3 March 2013 |title=This cap on bankers' bonuses is like a dead cat – pure distraction |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/9906445/This-cap-on-bankers-bonuses-is-like-a-dead-cat-pure-distraction.html |website=The Telegraph}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=David |date=16 June 2019 |title=Boris Johnson's dead cat tactics on tax and a no‑deal Brexit |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/boris-johnsons-dead-cat-tactics-on-tax-and-a-no-deal-brexit-qthllcn9f |website=The Times}}</ref>

{{blockquote|There is one thing that is absolutely certain about throwing a dead cat on the dining room table – and I don’t mean that people will be outraged, alarmed, disgusted. That is true, but irrelevant. The key point, says my Australian friend, is that everyone will shout, ‘Jeez, mate, there’s a dead cat on the table!’ In other words, they will be talking about the dead cat – the thing you want them to talk about – and they will not be talking about the issue that has been causing you so much grief.<ref name=Delaney>{{cite news|last1=Delaney|first1=Sam|title=How Lynton Crosby (and a dead cat) won the election: 'Labour were intellectually lazy'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/20/lynton-crosby-and-dead-cat-won-election-conservatives-labour-intellectually-lazy|journal=The Guardian|accessdate=14 March 2017}}</ref>}}

Johnson employed the Australian Lynton Crosby as his campaign manager during the 2008 and 2012 London mayoral elections, leading to press speculation that he was the "Australian friend" in the story.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Syal |first=Rajeev |date=2 Feb 2022 |title=Why is Boris Johnson making false claims about Starmer and Savile? |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/feb/02/why-is-boris-johnson-making-false-claims-about-starmer-and-savile}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

==Use==
Some observe that the strategy is used not only to distract when an argument is being lost but also to avoid responsibility or the repercussions of misconduct.<ref>{{cite news |title= Boris Johnson's Rwanda migrant announcement is a lazy diversion tactic at best |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/boris-johnson-rwanda-migrants-asylum-seeker-b2057780.html |access-date=1 May 2022 |work=the Independent |date=14 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Boris Johnson bets on a 'dead cat' strategy to get him out of trouble |url=https://www.ft.com/content/12713c27-0105-4b0a-91d6-8a6f79bd572e |access-date=1 May 2022 |work=The Week |date=23 April 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Is Boris Johnson using 'dead cat' strategy in latest Dominic Cummings row? |url=https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/politics/952622/is-boris-johnson-blaming-dominic-cummings-text-leaks-dead-cat-strategy |access-date=1 May 2022 |work=the Independent |date=14 April 2022 |language=en}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Academics claim that continued use of the dead cat strategy is unsustainable,<ref>{{cite news |title= Boris Johnson's familiar 'dead cat' strategy |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/boris-johnsons-familiar-dead-cat-strategy-the-yorkshire-post-cartoon-by-graeme-bandeira-3492789 |access-date=1 May 2022 |work=Yorkshire Post |date=13 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Boris Johnson is a master of distraction. What if that stops working? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/04/15/boris-johnson-dead-cat-party-zelensky |access-date=1 May 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=15 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref> because the repeated staging of outlandish 'newsworthy pseudo-events' cannot go unnoticed over time,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blumer |first1=J. G. |date= 5 February 2019 |title=Mediatization as a combination of push and pull forces: Examples during the 2015 UK general election campaign |journal=Journalism |volume=20 |issue=7 |pages=855–872 |doi=10.1177/1464884918754850|s2cid=148598915 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blumer |first1=J. G. |date= 31 January 2018 |title=The Crisis of Public Communication |journal=Javnost - the Public Journal of the European Institute for Communication and Culture |volume=23 |pages=87–108 |doi=10.1080/13183222.2018.1418799|s2cid=149298783 }}</ref> even if it has been used to win previous elections.<ref>{{cite news |title= How Lynton Crosby (and a dead cat) won the election: 'Labour were intellectually lazy' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/20/lynton-crosby-and-dead-cat-won-election-conservatives-labour-intellectually-lazy |access-date=1 May 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=20 Jan 2016 |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{colbegin}}
* {{Annotated link|Chewbacca defense}}
* {{Annotated link|Dead cat bounce}}
* {{Annotated link|Diversionary foreign policy}}
* {{Annotated link|Donald Trump}}
* {{Annotated link|Fearmongering}}
* {{Annotated link|Political strategy}}
* {{Annotated link|Post-truth politics}}
* {{Annotated link|Propaganda techniques}}
* {{Annotated link|Rally 'round the flag effect}}
* {{Annotated link|Red herring}}
* {{Annotated link|Wag the dog}}
* {{Annotated link|Whataboutism}}
{{colend}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Propaganda techniques]]
[[Category:Political campaign techniques]]



{{Sourceattribution|Dead cat strategy}}