Department of Education’s $3.8m milkshake videos one big PR mess
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.
After days of industry critique and media scrutiny the Federal Department of Education Skills and Employment has removed two of the videos from its The Good Society educational platform, intended to teach adolescents about consent and healthy relationships through the euphemisms of milkshakes and sharks.
According to data from Streem, the campaign has been the subject of more than 1,800 media items from Monday morning to 4pm Tuesday, nearly all of them negative. Headlines such as ‘Bizarre’ government consent education videos featuring milkshakes, tacos slammed’ and, ‘Federal Government’s bizarre ‘milkshake’ consent video slammed by gender equality advocates’ ran across mainstream media as soon as the content was made public.
Brisbane-based digital agency Liquid Interactive was paid nearly $3.8 million by the government to build out online learning solutions to educating against domestic violence, according to the AusTender website. The contract was initially worth $2.128 million but was upped by $1.66 million in April of 2018, making the total value almost half of the government’s investment into its ‘Respect Matters’ program aimed at reducing violence against women and children. The agency has not responded to Mumbrella’s request for comment.
The suite of 350 assets including video, podcast and written content was launched on Monday and quickly drew criticism from rape-prevention advocates, gender equality activists and the communications and media industries.
