B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Federal Election
  • Pinterest
  • AFL
  • NRL
  • Anthony Albanese
  • WPP
  • State of Origin
  • Thinkerbell
  • AI
  • Channel 10
  • EssenceMediaCom
  • B&T Women in Media
  • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Meta
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: Yes Campaign Outspending No By A Whopping 634% In Digi Ads, As Corporate Donations Come Under Fire
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Advertising > Yes Campaign Outspending No By A Whopping 634% In Digi Ads, As Corporate Donations Come Under Fire
Advertising

Yes Campaign Outspending No By A Whopping 634% In Digi Ads, As Corporate Donations Come Under Fire

Staff Writers
Published on: 18th July 2023 at 11:04 AM
Staff Writers
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

Digital adverts for the Yes campaign in the Voice to Parliament referendum have been causing some level of controversy in the Australian media.

The Yes23 campaign is said to have spent almost $300,000 on social media adverts, for example, in just the past month. The rival No campaign thinks that Yes23 might have spent as much as $10 million on advertising across all media in the past few weeks.

What’s more, Yes23’s bill for social media ads is supposed to dwarf that of the No campaign by some 634 per cent. Yes23 was running 300 different ad creatives across Facebook and Instagram, with one said to have reached a million people.

The No campaign is claiming that Yes23 digital advertising is so pervasive because of the money it is receiving from corporate Australia. The big four banks  have all come out in support of the voice and the campaign has received $2 million each from Wesfarmers, BHP and Rio Tinto. A Reuters poll of Australia’s 30 largest companies found five of the top 10 were funding or were planning to commit funds to the Yes campaign.

The Australian Electoral Commission’s referendum disclosure laws require all bodies involved in the national vote to reveal donations higher than the threshold limit of $15,200. But individual “referendum entities” are only required to lodge donation returns once the vote has been completed.

The actions of NAB, in particular, have caught the eye of Coalition MPs. The bank hosted a series of pro-Voice videos in February featuring campaigner Thomas Mayo on its website.

During one of the videos, Mayo says: “Some might criticise that it can only give advice to parliament but advice coming through firstly a referendum of Australian people saying ‘this voice must be respected and its advice acted upon’ is a powerful thing.”

Liberal National Party MP Garth Hamilton, deputy chair of the federal parliament’s Standing Committee on Economics, slammed NAB for the videos.

“Does the NAB CEO agree with Thomas Mayo – should his customers who are struggling to pay their mortgages also have to ‘pay the rent’?” said Hamilton.

“I want to know if NAB is all in behind Mayo or is their support just crass corporate virtue-signalling? Polling shows the CEO is out of touch with his customers. Things are going to get a lot tougher for mortgage holders, he should be focusing on helping his customers through these challenges.”

NAB did not directly respond to Hamilton. McEwan was in front of the economics committee last week but Hamilton did not attend the hearing either claiming he was helping to write the No pamphlet at the time.

Mayo was the subject of a “racist and offensive” political ad that appeared in the Nine-owned Australian Financial Review earlier this month.

The ad by conservative lobby group Advance Australia ran across a full page in the print edition of the AFR and featured WA independent MP Kate Chaney in a teal dress and pigtails sitting on the knee of her father, Wesfarmers chairman and Yes23 director Michael Chaney.

Chaney was handing a wad of cash with a $2 million price tag on it to Mayo, who was wearing a red shirt featuring the communist hammer and sickle.

Sky News said that the Yes23 campaign had been using its social media ads to “simply [amplify] friendly news coverage from outlets such as the ABC, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Financial Review.”

A spokesman for Nine said that the company regretted running the ad.

“The political advertisement about The Voice Referendum placed into today’s Financial Review should not have run and we apologise for that. We want to encourage a mature debate from both sides and avoid personal and/or inappropriate attacks,” the spokesman said.

Clearly, the situation with friendly and unfriendly press is far from clear-cut.

Lead image: @yes23au/Twitter

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: Voice To Parliament
Share
Staff Writers
By Staff Writers
Follow:
Staff Writers represent B&T's team of award-winning reporters. Here, you'll find articles crafted with industry experience spanning over 50 years. Our team of specialists brings together a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to delivering insightful, topical, and breaking news. With a deep understanding of advertising and media, our Staff Writers are dedicated to providing industry-leading analysis and reporting, both shaping the conversation and setting the benchmark for excellence.

Latest News

Relo & VideoAmp Kick Off A New Era Of Sports Measurement With Total Sports Performance
19/06/2025
Landor To Rebrand Australian War Memorial & Australian Agricultural Company In New Business Spree
19/06/2025
TV Ratings (18/06/2025): QLD Keep The Series Alive With Gutsy Two Point Victory
19/06/2025
VML Pours Out Silver With Legacy Lager As Aussies Claim Three More Cannes Lions
19/06/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?