A German government advertisement is praising an unexpected hero of the COVID-19 pandemic: the couch potato.
The ad was released on Saturday, 12 days after Germany went into an emergency month-long lockdown to halt the spread of the virus.
The 90-second video encourages viewers to follow the example of a 'couch potato', someone who does little to no exercise, and watches a lot of TV.
Titled, 'Together against Corona #SpecialHeroes', the video starts with an elderly man recalling his "service" to the nation.
"It was the winter of 2020 when all eyes of the country were on us," the man says.
"Twenty-two, at this age you want to party, to study, to get to know new people," he continues. "Yet fate had different plans for us."
String orchestra music plays as the scene changes to show the narrator as a younger man, where he talks about an "invisible danger" that threatened the world.
"Suddenly the fate of this country lay in our hands," he says. "So we mustered all our courage and did what was expected of us, the only right thing. We did nothing.
"Absolutely nothing. Being as lazy as raccoons."
The scene shows the man's younger self sleeping, eating chips, and drinking soft drinks while watching TV.
"Our couch was the front line and our patience was our weapon.
"This is how we became heroes, back then, during that Corona winter of 2020."
The ad ends with a government message that "you too can become a hero by staying at home".
Self-proclaimed couch potatoes on social media shared positive responses to the video.
"I'm a hero!" one user on Reddit wrote. "I'm finally getting the recognition I deserve!" another said.
Germany has 785,000 total cases of COVID-19 with 12,404 deaths. The country recorded 22,461 new cases on Saturday.
The country's current lockdown restrictions include shutting restaurants, bars, gyms and limiting the number of people who can meet in public and private settings.
