Nothing gets adland critics buzzing quite like yet another poor federal government vaccination campaign. Boring, unemotional and tone deaf just some of the words to describe recent government vax PSA efforts.
Even the creative agencies commissioned to produce the ads distancing themselves from the work, suggesting they were merely following Canberra’s orders.
Yet two new spots have landed overnight that many are suggesting are the right way to get a needle into Australians’ arms and, even more interestingly, both were created in-house by people who’d never made ads before!
The first spot comes via the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and various Victorian art groups including Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne Theatre Company and The Australian Ballet.
Called “Performance of a lifetime” the ad was produced by in-house creatives and was written and directed by writer, director and performer, Emma Muir-Smith.
It features artists such as Deborah Cheetham, Tim Minchin, Meow Meow, Rhonda Burchmore and Virginia Gay and encourages arts audiences to get vaccinated.
“We know it’s been hard stuck inside for COVID lockdowns, it’s been hard for us too. Performing at home just isn’t the same,” various performers say in the video.
“Every week, Victoria’s arts community comes together to give you the performance of a lifetime. And now it’s your turn.” Check out the work below:
Twitter soon erupted for its love of the work. “I’m almost crying because this is such a good advert, but the Morrison government did NOTHING to help the arts community. So here they are, trying to help Australia, despite being treated like dirt for 18 months,” just one of the many comments.
The second video, produced in-house by the Victorian Council to Social Service, features doctors, medical professionals and ordinary Victorians waiting to “get back to the good things”, like weddings, sports and being able to visit their loved ones again.
Check out the work below:
Commenting in the new spots, Victoria’s chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton labelled the ads as a “terrific message for all of us”.
Speaking to the ABC, Sutton said the problem wasn’t so much a fear of being vaccinated but a lack of actual vaccines.
“Something that frames it in a way that makes people see exactly the world that we’re trying to move to is a good thing,” Sutton said.
Victorian Council Of Social Services (VCOSS) chief executive Emma King added that the list of things Victorians would regain once enough Victorians were vaccinated was endless.
“As a peak body, VCOSS can’t increase vaccine supply or get needles into arms, but we can help get people into vaccination centres,” King said.
Simon Davies, founder and CEO of Bastion Brands, also said in a statement to B&T: “The new ad from the Victorian Arts Community is just brilliant. The message was so intertwined with what the arts community brings to us in terms of entertainment, social commentary, creativity and good production.
“It’s very clever how they have told a twofold story which explains the steps to getting vaccinated and then what could happen once we are able to go back to watching theatre, stage shows, musicals and the like,” Davies said.
