Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign found itself mocked by media commentators this week after reports emerged that aides had been briefing journalists about a planned effort to make the candidate appear more natural, joyful and unscripted on the campaign trail.

Parallel reports in both the New York Times and the Washington Post revealed that Clinton’s team intended to introduce what the Times described as new efforts to bring spontaneity to a campaign that had at times appeared wooden and overly cautious. The announcement prompted immediate ridicule from television hosts and political analysts who noted the obvious contradiction in strategically planning to appear unplanned.

MSNBC’s Morning Joe programme led the mockery, with panellist Mark Halperin telling viewers the production team had been laughing about the stories before the show even began. Co-host Mika Brzezinski responded sarcastically when the planned show of warmth was described as unscripted. Host Joe Scarborough pointed to what he saw as the central irony — that the same campaign aides who had timed document releases to fall on late Friday nights before holiday weekends were now briefing the press in a calculated manner about how their candidate would be showing genuine emotion.

Halperin added that showing rather than telling is usually considered the more effective approach, yet Clinton’s team had opted for the latter.

The campaign’s image troubles have been building for some time. Clinton has given significantly fewer press interviews than other candidates in the race, and her third nationally televised interview of the cycle only took place on the Friday before Labor Day weekend. Her campaign has also acknowledged that its response to the ongoing private email server controversy was handled too casually and defensively, a handling widely seen as having contributed to declining favourability ratings.

News also emerged over the weekend that Clinton had received emails containing highly classified material on her private server, adding further pressure to a campaign already struggling to shift its public image.

Former Obama adviser David Axelrod, who has previously been critical of Clinton’s campaign strategy, also weighed in on social media, adding his voice to those questioning the wisdom of the approach.