John Farnham’s ‘You’re The Voice’ stars in ‘Yes’ campaign for The Uluru Dialogue
John Farnham’s iconic song ‘You’re The Voice’ provides the soundtrack for a series of transformative moments in Australian history, in a new spot launched by The Uluru Dialogue, creators of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Developed by The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song, alongside Professor Megan Davis and historian Professor Clare Wright OAM, the campaign is a direct call to action to remind Australians of the decision they need to make in six weeks.
The minute I read this article, the immediate thought was that this was advertising getting way ahead of itself and completely missing the sensitivity of the Voice referendum. It’s exactly why advertising or creative agencies constantly fall short on information or emotional lead content, confusing it with the disciplines of a brand advertisement.
With the Australian population hovering around a split 50/50 to vote either way, means in rough numbers there are as many intending to vote in either yes or no. To select a popular national music anthem that means something to many Australians and then try and super-impose John Farnham’s words and music on the Yes Vote – was always going to ‘divide’ the audience. The very essence of the Yes vote is to unite and this campaign with this national soundtrack has simply hijacked a loved anthem and repurposed it for the Yes vote. The 50% (or balance) of No Voters (or undecided) rightfully feel as though somehow this anthem has been stolen.
The Referendum is not about gimmicks or a catchy soundtrack. Has there ever been a more significant behavioral change to conquest? This was so naively thought through and executed – and clearly by people who don’t understand the dynamics, but who are caught up in the promotional stunt. Perhaps the Yes Vote could have looked at the 1971 campaign with Gough Whitlam and “Its Time” – and create a true line in the sand than trying to re-purpose a loved national anthem which was always going to end in tears.
Agency land is the last place I would go to develop a communications strategy for those who are in the ‘no’ camp. Most agency people I know are so far removed from the collective ‘zeitgeist’ they continue to bang on about that it’s laughable.
This is a cheap publicity stunt that will do nothing to convince those in opposition to the voice to change their mind. Rather, it will just fill the creator’s LinkedIn feed with shares and applause from people who were already voting yes anyway.
People need to realise that over the next few months, families will have to decide whether to give their kids school shoes for Xmas so they can combine two purchases in one.
The fact that this amount of time and money has been spent on something that will do nothing to improve the lives of 99% of Australians is quite frankly embarrassing and is primarily fuelling opposition.
It’s people like you that really help the no vote.
Great ad. Hoping it is followed with people blasting it in the background every time Dutton bumbles through his incoherent responses.
Commercial Radio Australia were recently running a campaign oddly enough called “The Voice” https://www.commercialradio.com.au/voice which also featured a sample of John Farnham’s song. That has mysteriously disappeared from radio station’s nation-wide. Initially I thought CRA were campaigning in favour of voting of Yes in the referendum, until I realized they were in fact promoting mental health services. Fantastic initiative but poorly executed. The timing could not have been any worse. A company that specializes in communication muddying the waters of a national debate whilst trying to show they care about a major issue in society. I wonder if they have plans to bring back their “Voice” campaign late 2023 or early 2024? Can I suggest a name change would be beneficial to avoid confusion.
What about the original TV show the ‘Voice’ that’s been on for years. Talk about over-use of the word.