Covid: Welsh government spent £32k on GLC vaccine campaign

GLC said they took part in the campaign to help the struggling music industry

The Welsh government spent almost £32,000 on a campaign featuring rap group Goldie Lookin' Chain (GLC), which encouraged people to get the Covid jab.

The Newport band were paid £7,000 for writing a single, with a publisher paid £10,000 and a PR agency £13,000.

A Freedom of Information request also revealed the government had the final say on the lyrics of Get the Jab Done.

The Welsh government said it wanted to educate people about the vaccine. The band said it was legitimate income.

The details of the Freedom of Information request reveal Media Wales, the publisher of Wales Online, the Western Mail and the South Wales Echo among others, were paid just over £10,000, with PR agency Golley Slater receiving £13,000.

The Media Wales content included a Wales Online article labelled "advertorial" and a Facebook post labelled "paid partnership".

The cost of the whole campaign was £31,789.

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Speaking to BBC Wales, GLC band member Rhys Hutchings said they took on the campaign to help their industry, which was "in trouble" because of the pandemic.

"It's a message that was important to get out," he said.

"Ultimately, being in GLC, I don't know if anyone really listens to us, we're a little tiny voice in a big world, but we just want people to get back into into clubs and venues, go and enjoy themselves."

The single was released in August ahead of the band's planned tour.

"Well we are a band, we do things, we do work where we get paid to do stuff," Mr Hutchings said.

"It's what people do, they go and they do a job and they get paid for it. So yeah, we knew we were getting paid money."

Asked whether they should have taken any money for the campaign, he said: "If you are employed to do something, I think you should probably get paid to do it.

"So yeah, that's usually how it works when you've got a job."

He also rejected the idea that being paid by ministers went against the band's image, adding: "I used to be a councillor."

The details in the Freedom of Information request show the Welsh government used a number of methods to reach people in Wales who do not usually engage with mass media or government campaigns.

This included the use of paid-for influencer and partnership activity, with individuals or groups who are not health professionals but are listened to by the target audience.

It added that the Welsh government had provided "key messages" to include in the song.

A spokesperson for the Welsh government said: "Wales has one of the best vaccination rates in the world and we are doing everything we can to ensure everyone understands the importance of vaccination in our fight against Covid-19."