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Gunpowder Plot Publicity Stunt

Updated: Jun 11, 2023

London commuters unwittingly stepped into a history lesson as they shared tube carriages with Guy Fawkes and his Gunpowder Plot conspirators.


Illustration of Guy Fawkes
Illustration of Guy Fawkes | Wikipedia

“Draped in cloaks”, the group of half a dozen plotters “mingled with confused workers” en route to Westminster station, said The Sun. But “fortunately, this group posed no threat - and were actually actors” from an immersive Gunpowder Plot experience.


The modern-day Fawkes and Co. were 'apprehended' at the Houses of Parliament and escorted to the Tower of London, where the real-life plotters were imprisoned for their roles in the 1605 plot.


The stunt was aimed at raising awareness about the historical event, after a poll of 2,000 Brits found that one in four people have “little or no understanding” of the thwarted plot to blow up King James I and his government.


One in five of the respondents incorrectly believed that Brits “remember, remember the fifth of November” to mark an attempt to blow up Buckingham Palace, while 16 percent thought the Gunpowder Plot was a work of fiction.


But why the modern-day Fawkes and Co. decided to pull their stunt in May, rather than in early November, is a bit of a head scratcher.

 

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