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GetUp ‘hijacks’ Woolworths Christmas ad in latest pokie machines campaign

GetUp has created a parody version of the Woolworths Christmas ad to highlight the supermarket giant being Australia’s largest owner of pokie machines.

The 45-second spot apes Woolies’ family-oriented Christmas spots showing some families having fun, before cutting to others sat in the dark without any decorations or presents to illustrate how gambling addiction can affect people.

The campaign group has started crowd funding to get its ‘Woolworths The Pokies People’ on TV.

Campaigner Natalie O’Brien said the ad exposed the lie of celebrating family values while conning people into ruin with their deceptive poker machine design tricks.

“Woolworths is exploiting the sense of family that the holiday season brings while its poker machines betray Australian families every day. We’re shocked by the hypocrisy,” Ms O’Brien said.

“We can’t match Woolworths’ multi-million dollar ad buy, but we can hijack it. Every time somebody sees one of the Woolworths Christmas ads, they’ll remember our ad and how Woolies are taking food off the tables of thousands of Australian families this holiday season.”

Woolworths has not responded to requests for comment.

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