Prime minister Scott Morrison is doing the surfers’ shaka sign, otherwise known as the “hang loose” gesture; Australians who grew up in the 80s are more likely to remember it from the Network 10 show Ridgey Didge. Yes, it’s the PM in Hawaii.
Disconcertingly, ash starts to float across the scene as a male voiceover says: “Going to Hawaii when half the country was burning was a mistake”.
The Labor attack ad is made for social media and television and deploys that most useful Morrison line: “I don’t hold a hose, mate.” It mainly comprises various news reports, cobbled together.
Today we're launching Labor's new ad campaign.
— Paul Erickson (@PaulEErickson) April 21, 2022
No more mistakes. No more excuses. No more Morrison. pic.twitter.com/IIYFIGmVcm
Labor leader Anthony Albanese doesn’t feature in it.
It’s a blunt instrument, hammering Morrison over the delays in delivering vaccines and rapid antigen tests. The 30-second video ends with various clips of Morrison saying “that’s not my job”.
After an initial prime ministerial-style advertisement focused on Albanese, Labor’s attack ads have come thick and fast.
The party’s Facebook page is a blend of videos that rely on terrifying all-caps claims about how the Coalition will ruin your life and Simpsons-style memes, contrasted with leader Anthony Albanese looking … determined.
Dr Andrew Hughes, a political marketing lecturer from the Australian National University, says it’s a “smart move” to leave Albanese out of the attacks.
“They’re trying to protect his reputation and his brand,” he says. “Minimising damage to him by not linking to him directly is a smart move.”
It can backfire when individuals attack other individuals, he says – with a notable exception.
Hughes says he’s surprised Labor didn’t kick off with footage of the Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells standing up in parliament after the budget was delivered. Her blistering attack included calling Morrison an autocrat and a bully, and her claims about his actions during his own preselection in 2007 were dominating headlines for weeks.
Dr Chris Wallace, a researcher at the University of Canberra who is also the author of How to Win an Election, also reckons Labor could have gone harder.
“A good ad as far as it goes,” she says. “But [it] taps, rather than hits, hot-button memories Australian voters have of Scott Morrison’s laggardness, laziness and misfires on the bushfire disaster, vaccine ‘strollout’ and general reluctance to take responsibility.
“This is pretty typical of Labor’s ad approach, expecting gentle reminders of the facts of Morrison’s prime ministership to translate into a reasoned decision by voters to go Labor.”
Wallace says Labor should take inspiration from the Lincoln Project, which ran high-profile and successful advertisements against Donald Trump while he was US president.
“A skilled director needs to take the needle to this ad and inject a massive dose of emotion into the production and delivery of the content,” she says.
“These are dramatic, traumatic memories for Australians – but where’s the drama in the ads?”
Hughes says any attack ad, anything controversial, draws people’s attention – even if they don’t hold it for long.
“They have to move people really quickly,” Hughes says.
“They have just three weeks now so they’re aggressive, they don’t hold back, from the start of the ad to the last second.”
He also points out that “ultra-negatives” ads usually use male voices, while female voices are used in less aggressive ones.
The only other person whose face features in the Labor advertisement (apart from the guy in the Hawaii snap) is a Cobargo firefighter who refused to shake the PM’s hand.
“They’re trying to show that Morrison’s out of touch and he’s not liked. That he can’t connect with normal people in the street,” Hughes says. “That image works really well.
“I still think they should have started with Fierravanti-Wells.”
Seen an election campaign ad you think we should take a look at? Send it to tory.shepherd@theguardian.com
