Daily Star’s 60p Lettuce Liz that lasted longer than Truss herself immortalised by BFI
The lettuce livestream as been acquired by the British Film Institute’s National Archive as part of a digital collection featuring 400 significant pieces of British online video content
Liz Truss: Best Bits from Daily Star lettuce livestream
The Daily Star’s famous Lettuce Liz has been immortalised by film chiefs in a national archive. They ruled that the livestream of the plucky 60p Tesco iceberg is an iconic piece of history and deserves to be preserved for generations to come.
It has now been acquired by the British Film Institute’s (BFI) National Archive as of today (Monday) – three years to the day since she resigned as PM, on October 20, 2022.
The leafy green veg, which was livestreamed to see if it would outlast Liz Truss’s time in No10 in 2022, quickly went viral around the world. And it was declared to be “victorious” when Britain’s shortest-serving PM quit after just 49 days.
The footage is part of a new digital collection which is bringing 400 significant pieces of British online video content into a national collection.
Curators aim to trace the technological advancements in online moving images, reflecting the stories of Britain in the digital age in the process. They are selecting pieces of work, such as the lettuce, that have entertained, inspired or struck a chord over the last 30 years with audiences.
Ellie Groom, BFI National Archive Curator, said: “The Daily Star’s video livestream was a seminal moment in British political history and in the story of online moving image. It was a brilliantly conceived satirical stunt that went viral and beyond, and over the course of a few short days as pressure mounted on Liz Truss to resign, it had a real influence.
“The BFI National Archive are so thrilled to preserve it to try and retroactively understand the scale and impact of the livestream as it happened. Our skills and resource will ensure that every hour of the lettuce stream is preserved for future generations to look back at this significant moment in online moving image history.
“The BFI National Archive collects hours of daily news off-air from Freeview channels, and now we have the original online sensation that broadcast newscasters were all talking about in October 2022.”
The lettuce footage racked up 2.9m views on X, 2.3m views on YouTube and hundreds of thousands of shares. It became a huge cultural moment and has since spawned countless memes around the globe, as well as being key part of the political discourse around her time in office.
Ben Rankin, Daily Star Editor-in-Chief, said: “When people talk about the Daily Star, they talk about the lettuce; and that is still the case, it hasn’t left public consciousness. So three years to the day since Liz Truss resigned, it is testament to the impact a 60p Tesco lettuce had that it sits alongside other viral moments such as Charlie Bit My Finger and Badgers in this fantastic pioneering project.
“At the Daily Star, we have always had a unique way of covering big stories. We tell the news with a wink and we are always on the lookout for the next viral lettuce.”
The collection includes viral sensations such as Charlie Bit My Finger and Jonti Picking’s early flash animation Badgers, along with clips by comedians such as Limmy and music videos from Radiohead and Public Service Broadcasting.
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