Welsh Government pays £7k for Goldie Lookin’ Chain song encouraging people to get Covid jab – as part of overall £32k PR bill

The Welsh Government paid nearly £32,000 towards the cost of a Goldie Lookin’ Chain song encouraging people to get the Covid vaccine, newly released figures show.

The Newport-based rappers released their new single called ‘Get The Jab Done’ last month.

According to the PR accompanying its release, the band wrote it after being fully vaccinated by the Welsh NHS and were keen to highlight how getting the life-saving jab is easy and safe.

The music video was filmed in a number of locations, including the Welsh Government’s press room in Cathays Park.

Details released in response to a Freedom of Information request show the government spent a total of £31,789 on what it described as “partnership activity” with the band.

Around £7,000 went to the rappers themselves to cover script writing, performance, filming, social media publication, media interviews and the right to use the videos on government channels.

A larger sum of £13,000 went to Cardiff-based PR firm Golley Slater, who are contracted to support the Keep Wales Safe campaign and helped with filming arrangements and the distribution of the video.

A payment of £10,713 also went to Reach PLC-owned Media Wales which runs the Wales Online website.

The site published an article titled ‘First look at Goldie Lookin’ Chain’s hilarious music video Get The Jab Done‘ when the video was released.

The government said the money covered an advertorial article, digital display ads, Facebook campaign, pre-roll video ads, and programmatic display ads. (North.Wales and our sister sites also covered the video appearing – however that was self starting by us as Golley Slater as usual were not in touch, and thus obviously unpaid!)

In the FOI response, it said the aim of the song was to reach people who don’t normally engage with mass media or government campaigns to encourage them to get vaccinated.

Although the government said it had final approval on the song’s lyrics, the words were written by band members themselves.

The response states: “Vaccination is considered one of the key ways to protect yourself and others against Covid and is a key message of the Keep Wales Safe campaign.

“As part of the campaign, the Welsh Government uses a number of methods to reach people in Wales who do not usually engage with mass media or government campaigns.

“This includes the use of paid-for influencer and partnership activity. The individuals included in this work are not health professionals, but are listened to by the relevant audience group we are trying to target.

“When we work with influencers or partners, such as Goldie Lookin’ Chain, the Welsh Government provide the key messages that we want to communicate.

“The influencer or partner will then develop their content, in this case, a song, to include those messages but in their own style and voice.

“That way, it is authentic and speaks to their usual audience and followers.”