150-odd entries have been received, and voting has opened, for GetUp’s Oz In 30 Seconds political advertisement contest. The best ads as voted by visitors to the site (the voting procedure will show you five random advertisements, which you can then vote on) will be put on a shortlist, to be judged by a “celebrity panel” with the best ad to be shown during the upcoming federal election campaign.
I happen to think this ad is the best by far (aside from the overweight guy with the nasally voice at the start).
All jokes aside, it’s worth looking at the ads as a group, and comparing the results to its American inspiration, Bush in 30 seconds.
It should be noted that the only ones still posted in the Bush in 30 seconds ad archive is the 150-strong shortlist, representing about 10% of the entries, so that has to be kept in mind when making comparisons. That said, there don’t seem to be any Australian entries that have the stunning cinematics of Child’s Pay, the Bush in 30 Seconds overall winner. Few advertisements do. But there are plenty of fine technical efforts, this 3D animation, and this cartoon about the FTA with the United States are amongst the better ones. Amongst the live action efforts, this is sarcastic but probably effective, this anti-nuclear ad is plenty scary, if scientifically highly dubious.
The other thing that struck me about a lot of these advertisements is how many other issues are raised beyond the few that dominate mainstream media (and, to a large extent, blogospheric) debate. Sure, there were dozens of ads on climate change, nuclear energy, WorkChoices, Howard’s honesty, and the like, but there were also advertisements on issues like access to midwives for birthing. Whether it’s worth spending GetUp’s money on anything other than sure-fire vote-changing marginal seat specials is of course open to question.
So, what do you think? Does GetUp have the next “It’s Time” or for that matter Willie Horton somewhere in this collection? And even if that lofty goal hasn’t been achieved, has it been an effective experiment in political participation?
Good one Robert. I would prefer the last frame to have persisted a few seconds longer, for soak in value, but it says it all for me.
Voting? No thanks. Regardless of how much I protest, it never seems to do any good. This time I won’t be participating. Howard governs for the .01% of Australians who are right wing religious bigots anyways.