ADVERTISING:
An argument has broken out over the surprise pick of former advertising guru, John Singleton, (below) to design a public information campaign which itself aims to “lower the temperature” of public discourse in Australia.
The new campaign had been considered by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for some time but was brought forward following the attack which injured independent federal MP Helen Haines.
“The PM has been saying for months that we all need to lower the temperature of public debate in this country,” a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
“This week’s events prompted him to initiate an ad campaign across all media platforms asking Australians to be far more polite and considerate of other viewpoints when discussing or debating politics.
“Because of the urgency, the government invoked special provisions in its procurement rules to unilaterally award the job to Singo.
“John, who is now aged about 117 I think, is very well known as an ad man from the 1970s and ’80s – that’s the 1970s and 1980s – when his agency won accounts for a range of major brands that all benefited from a jump in sales or awareness courtesy of Singo’s unique ads that invariably featured all-Aussie – Ocker even – characters or content with very direct, in-your-face messaging or slogans.
“This latest campaign has been no different, although it has taken a bit of finessing to secure the PM’s approval.”
The PMO source said the advertising campaign built around the slogan ‘Hey Arsehole! Don’t be an arsehole’ (main picture) was originally presented to the government by Mr Singleton as ‘Hey Cunt! Don’t be a cunt’.
“While we acknowledged it was a very direct and compelling slogan, we deemed it to be sexist and could be seen as being hostile to trans people, so Singo quickly went back to the drawing board and very soon returned with a new slogan: ‘Hey Dickhead! Don’t be a dickhead!’,” the PMO source said.
“We explained to him that we thought the revised slogan was also sexist and potentially transphobic, and Singo quickly changed it again to the final version.”
Meanwhile, other noted advertising industry figures have criticised the lack of a public tender for the new campaign.
ABC TV’s Gruen panellists Russel Howcroft and Todd Sampson (below) told The Bug‘s advertising industry reporter that they would have welcomed the opportunity to lodge bids for the campaign.
“Singo is a legend in our profession. Yeah? And his new campaign is brilliant. Yeah?,” Mr Howcroft said.
“But I reckon my idea for a somewhat cryptic campaign based on the theme of ‘Brilliant. Yeah?’ would have been brilliant. Yeah?”
Mr Sampson thoughtfully nodded agreement before adding: “Do you notice I’m wearing a t-shirt?”
The Bug‘s reporter said they had noted his apparel but pressed him for his campaign idea.
“That’s it. My campaign theme would have been ‘Do you notice I’m wearing a t-shirt?’,” Mr Sampson responded.
Want to be alerted immediately a new blog hits Australia’s longest running and most offensive satire site? Simply click on the Follow sign or the link below to be emailed new yarns the moment they are uploaded! The very second we go far too far – and trust us we will – you can then quickly unfollow via the three dots!
Follow The Bug Online on WordPress.com
