‘Stunning, brave’: Actress ‘goes gray for frontline workers’ in latest slacktivist Covid-19 attention grab

Actress Hilarie Burton has joined the ranks of attention-starved celebrities desperately seeking to stay relevant during the Covid-19 pandemic with an ostentatious display that does nothing to help the situation.

The 37-year-old announced in an emotional Instagram post that she is ditching hair dye in a symbolic show of support for essential workers on the coalface of the public health crisis.

“The ‘silver lining’ is literally growing out of my skull,” she wrote. “For all of our frontline and essential workers who are too busy to fuss with things like hair color, I grow mine out in solidarity with you,” Burton added.

When I see it, I’m reminded of all you’re doing to keep us safe. I’m reminded that you deserve to be taken care of.

Unfortunately for the former ‘One Tree Hill’ star, the publicity stunt didn’t quite have the desired effect as it inspired a jaundiced reaction from the public.

“Wow, the courage this takes is immeasurable. I’m sure that the people dealing with this pandemic will read about this and surely feel the appreciation of their efforts. God bless her soul for the sacrifice,” one person sarcastically replied. Meanwhile, another commenter upped the stakes: “Just lit my neighbor’s front door mat on fire to show my solidarity with the frontline workers. Your move, Hilarie.”

Of course Burton’s roots are far from the only coronavirus attention grab. Here are some of the worst offenders.

Greta Thunberg

Unsurprisingly, teen climate activist Greta Thunberg has been keen to keep herself in the news and she has done this by lecturing the world’s governments about how to do their jobs. 

The 17-year-old instructed leaders that they must fight the twin crises of climate change and the global coronavirus pandemic simultaneously. The climate change call to arms was perceived by many as somewhat tone deaf, as it came while many countries struggled to equip frontline medical staff with vital equipment.

Unperturbed, Thunberg pressed on and sprang into action again in recent days, launching a fundraising campaign to help the children of the world survive Covid-19. Though the pandemic has largely spared the young, Thunberg nonetheless branded it a “child-rights crisis.”

Gal Gadot et al

As lockdowns began to be introduced in many countries, some two-dozen celebrities released a cringe-inducing cover of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ that was so embarrassingly bad that it’s hard to believe it was cleared by the army of PR experts that those involved have in their employ.

‘Wonder Woman’ star Gal Gadot masterminded the entire sorry production, which was so nauseatingly bad that we’re reluctant to revisit it here. The only positive out of the entire sorry exercise is that it quickly became fuel for parody.

Madonna

Ever the expert at drumming up publicity, Madonna managed to grab the spotlight in late March with a bizarre bathtub video in which she made the nonsense claim that coronavirus has “made us all equal.”

“What’s terrible about it is that it’s made us all equal in many ways and what’s wonderful about it is that it’s made us all equal in many ways,” the veteran popstar claimed from her  flower-petal-festooned tub. OK, Madge. Whatever you say.

#ClapForCarers

It may have begun as a genuine outpouring of appreciation for Britain’s healthcare workers but the weekly routine of applauding the National Health Service quickly morphed into a jingoistic display in which, staggeringly, participants openly flouted all social distancing guidelines.

The viral phenomenon saw a ferry performing donuts in the river Thames and all manner of other high-jinks passed off as “support for the NHS.” The most galling example took place on Westminster Bridge in mid-April when social distancing rules went out the window as crowds of people stood cheek-by-jowl to take part in the spectacle while the police stood idly by.

Meanwhile, the UK’s number of Covid-19 cases has continued to spiral and the government has failed to hit its own testing targets.

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