A spoof billboard ad that pokes fun at Clive Palmer’s absurd federal election advertising spend has gone viral, and for good reason.
If you’re an Australian citizen, no doubt over the last few weeks you’ve been blasted with plenty of Clive Palmer UAP ads.
That’s because it had been reported he spent around $60 million on campaign ads, which amusingly failed to win him a single seat in the election.
The latest Nielsen report, however, which tallied up the total ad spend across TV, print and radio following Saturday’s election, revealed Palmer spent $53.6 million on advertising.
Creative director and graphic designer Adrian Elton took it upon himself to roast Palmer’s failed advertising with a hilarious photoshopped billboard ad, which took off on social media.
Something I just threw together. Namely the ad that Ikea should've been running nationally today :P #auspol #clivepalmer #election2019 #uap #ikea #spoof pic.twitter.com/jZBH44t2Rh
— Adrian Elton (@TheSurrealMcCoy) May 20, 2019
Elton told B&T he made the spoof Monday night, noting it didn’t take him very long to create.
“I made it on Monday night as an afterthought before crawling into bed. I took the first screenshot of the ‘SNILLE’ chair [and then] it took all of 12 minutes to create.”
He said he frequently makes spoof ads to amuse his friends and family, however, he said in the case of political ones, “particularly in this climate”, it’s a form of “catharsis” for him.
The spoof ad was first posted to his Facebook, followed by LinkedIn and Instagram. And, much to Elton’s surprise, the next day, the ad “just went ballistic”.
Elton said: “I’ve done things which have gone ‘viral’ before – but this is like the ‘Full Monty’ viral. People seeing it in their feeds from multiple unrelated sources.”
At first, Twitter users were unsure if the billboard was real or not, with many praising IKEA’s work. It was later revealed Elton was the mastermind behind the billboard.
https://twitter.com/ltlblkdress/status/1130742304396865536
IKEA launches new 'Clive Palmer' seat – starting at just $60 million each. pic.twitter.com/z3hOOEE8h9
— The Shovel (@TheShovel) May 20, 2019
Elton said he hasn’t heard from IKEA regarding the ad yet, but joked he wanted a “complimentary ‘SNILLE’ chair”.
