Germany hails ‘lazy as racoons' teenagers, says 'you too can become hero by staying home'

A witty German advertorial related to the COVID-19 pandemic’s stay-at-home advisory due to the alarming upsurge of the second wave of infections has amused the internet. Shared on Twitter by an EU citizen Axel Antoni, the nearly 2-minute public service announcement glorified the household couch potatoes, introverts, and the out stroll naysayers that mainly chose to stick around the television instead of fixing a plan with a group of friends. Calling the “lazy as raccoons” teenagers as “heroes”, narrator Anton Lehmann nails the humour in the German government’s advertisement. He encourages youth to embrace the sofa as a “weapon” and go into a siesta “as warriors” to help the country fight one of the deadliest crisis. 

The hilarious PSA that was aired with English subtitles caused a stir on Twitter as commenters who have been doing nothing felt indebted to the federal government for the advertorial and appreciation of their efforts. The video with hashtag #specialheroes and titled ‘Together against corona’ amassed over 2.5 million views. Alex captioned the clip as, “Special times require special heroes”, encouraging people to restrict the outdoor activities and opt for confining themselves within homes to limit the spread of the malignant virus. "Laziness could save lives, and I was the master of that,” he opined, jokingly, sharing the third installment of the German government COVID public health advert. 

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'Service' to the nation

As the clip opens, an old man, who, in perspective, is ahead in times recalls the present-day pandemic in the year 2020 when he was a teenager and a couch potato. The man stresses that he was a warrior, that remained on his couch day in day out, saving lives and protecting his country. "At this age, you want to party, study, get to know people, go for drinks with friends. Yet fate had different plans for us,” he says in the clip. He informs viewers that at the time [in 2020] he was aged 22 and was pursuing engineering, but he decided to be as lazy as a raccoon in service to his nation back then. “Fate of this country lay in our hands,” he said. “We did nothing. Absolutely nothing,” he added, promoting the government’s stay at home orders adherence. The comical video divided the Internet as some fabricated jokes while others called it insensitive towards the youth who were whiling away their time. 

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