The broadcaster published a series of posts on its BBC Stories Facebook account, including such pearls as “politics can be a bit ‘meh’” featuring an image of a nonplussed grinch, “there’s been a lot of ‘blah’" accompanied by a black and white photo of Johnny Cash and a gaping mouth, and finally a fat-positive cartoon Spiderman apparently dying to know “what’s more important to you than politics?”

Reaction online was one of abject consternation and confusion, with many irate that the state broadcaster could actively attempt to dissuade a huge voter demographic from participating in the democratic process.

Some described it as “sugar-coated, candy-coloured, anti-voting propaganda,” with many agreeing and claiming it was a “completely outrageous and disgusting, an obvious ploy to discourage young voters.” Others were more succinct in their assessment: “F**king state of this,” one clearly irate commenter exclaimed. 

The BBC’s alleged litany of similar abuses was laid bare throughout the comments online.

However, it wasn’t all negative as many Twitter users were absolutely captivated by the overweight Spiderman deployed in the messaging. 

“Okay the politics are transparently awful and the bias coming from our national broadcaster is disgusting but can we talk about that dummy thicc Spiderman in the last slide?”