Crikey for PM.
Crikey explores how political candidates take advantage of loopholes by running for Parliament with a campaign from DDB Group Melbourne.
Crikey faxed its application, paid the electoral commission (AEC), registered a real candidate and assigned reporter Charlie Lewis as campaign manager to "run" for prime minister.
DDB Group Melbourne chief creative officer Psembi Kinstan said that political advertising operates within an entirely different rulebook to every other advertiser in the country.
“They can lie, mislead and misdirect. What simpler way to spotlight this embarrassing ridiculousness than by running our own political campaign,” Kinstan said.
The editorial series, Crikey for PM, contributed towards Crikey’s 1.25 million page views across the election campaign.
The editorial produced mock up corflutes to show how candidates can mislead voters, appearing in the colours of the major parties and the electoral commission itself.
Crikey for PM’s campaign phone texted Kooyong independent Monique Ryan, as well as Trumpet of Patriot’s Clive Palmer, and representatives of the Liberal and Labor parties. Political parties are exempt from the Spam Act 2003.
The AEC has no power to remove any of Crikey’s signs outside of six metres of a polling booth, regardless of if its content is misleading.
DDB Melbourne targeted social advertising that showed the contradictory messages parties have the opportunity to use to sway audiences.
Crikey also targeted politicians and staffers in Parliament House via Meta to illustrate just how precisely campaigns can track and target potential voters.
Crikey’s editor and founder of Zee Feed, Crystal Andrews, said that if they had a campaign manager with some strategic nous, the ‘Crikey for PM’ ads could have been a lot more targeted and effective.
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