The Australian Republican Movement has partnered with the Bureau of Everything to encourage Australians to wave goodbye to royal reign.
The PR-led campaign parodies the much-anticipated farewell tour spectaculars that hold a dear place in Aussie hearts, complete with tour merchandise, bill posters, promos and kitsch commemorative tea towels.
As the first visit from an Australian Head of State in 11 years, it is the opportune moment to reignite the debate about becoming a republic. But given that us Aussies tend to engage more with cultural movements than political ones, the campaign is structured to stir conversation with a bit of cheek whilst still giving us a platform to educate and reflect on the irrelevance of having a British monarch as our Head of State.
Co-chair Esther Anatolitis said: “While shows like Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour are always welcomed by Australian ticket-buyers, today’s Australian democracy is not a show: we elect our representatives on merit. It’s time to Wave Goodbye to Royal Reign on what we’re calling Monarchy: The Farewell Oz Tour!
“Australians all over the continent tell us they’re keen to see a warm, positive conversation about the future of the monarchy in Australia, seeing this visit as the last tour of a king and queen of Australia. It’s time for Australia to say ‘thanks, but we’ve got it from here’.
“The jet setting, the security, the flash hotels, paparazzi, limos and photo ops have more parallels with ageing Rock Stars than a working Australian Head of State,” said Cam Blackley, creative founder of Bureau of Everything.
“We felt that leaning hard into the idea of a nostalgic farewell tour is a suitably kitsch way to lower the curtain on the outdated concept of the Monarchy as our highest national representative.”
Em Taylor, strategy founder of BoE added, “An Australian Head of State is a no-brainer, which is why most of the country supports a change. That doesn’t mean we want to engage in a political debate about it though, so we threw a bunch of brilliant creative minds at finding a less expected way to grab attention and reopen the conversation.”
Co-Chair Nathan Hansford said: “Our research shows 92 per cent of Australians are either supporters of a republic or are open to it. Only 8 per cent of the country are rusted-on supporters of the monarchy.”
“When it comes to Royal Visits, 78 per cent of Australians believe that the Royal Family – not Australian taxpayers – should foot the bill for travel to Australia. While Aussies are struggling with cost of living, this week we will host our billionaire British Monarch and we will be slugged with the bill for their once-in-a-decade holiday Down Under.”
Aside from giving the king the royal wave off, Aussies are also invited to sign the farewell card and leave a message at republic.org.au to show their support for a new Australian era. The PR and social campaign has been doing the rounds of all major Australian media outlets and hit the headlines in the Times, Mirror, The Independent, Guardian and BBC in the UK in the last 24 hours.
Credits:
Client: Australian Republic Movement
Creative Office: Bureau of Everything
Design Director: Michael Kleinman
Music Director: Jason Leigh
Exec Producer: Cathy Rechichi
Edit & Vision: Gary Jacques @FallingUpwards
Sound: Mosaic Music & Sound
Composer: Adam Moses
Snr Audio Engineer: Michael Thomas
Producer: Bill Doig
Campaign Partner: The Pool Collective
