Liberal TV vs LaborTV vs GreenTV – The Victorian election YouTube smack down
Political parties in Australia may not have embraced the full range of social media quite yet or smart phone apps like the political parties in the USA or the UK. But no panic because one thing all the major parties have really embraced during the Victorian state election is YouTube videos. There is LaborTV, GreenTV and Liberal TV. A fair few of the independents are giving it a go too including Stephen Jolly of the Socialist Party who is running for Richmond and Phil Cleary an independent running for the seat of Brunswick.
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You could be forgiven for thinking that with everyone at it there must be some top quality videos coming out. That they are all raising the bar quality wise and entertainment wise. Well, not quite. They are all making videos but not many people are watching them. Whether that is because nobody knows they are there or if they aren’t aimed at the right audience I’m not sure. One thing is clear though an independent can have more views than one of the major parties. And seeing that videos can get your message across in a more digestible form than text on a leaflet, and cheaper, I wonder why more aren’t attempting them. It’s a campaign leveler in my opinion so long as you promote them.
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Below is an fair example from each of the ‘majors’ and a fun one from Phil Cleary.
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Liberal Party TV
The Liberal Party is so very proper they even have a space between Liberal and TV. Currently Liberal TV only features their TV advertisements. They have a youthful vibe to them with the shaky camera and sharp quick cuts. I’ll compare the TV ads of the parties in a later post. I have no issues with parties putting their TV ads onto their YouTube channel but if it’s the only things there it shows the party doesn’t understand what it’s for.
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LaborTV
LaborTV I have to say is the dorkiest of the lot by far, when you aim for funny you’ve really got to actually be funny. I like what the Labor Party is attempting here with trying to humanise their candidates and show how down to earth they are. Unfortunately most of them come off looking a little doofy and not particularly awe inspiring (or vote inspiring…). Unless of course the Labor Party is attempting to be like Howard… The other thing to say about LaborTV is it’s very one angle, one camera, one take. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
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GreenTV
GreenTV is actually quite good. They are half way between television quality video and what I would call a more traditional YouTube video. They go for a minute and a half, they make their candidates look energetic and emphasis the candidates love of the local area. They do a good job of showing candidates personalities too. Although personally I would have suggested Colleen didn’t wear that scarf her video shows you somebody that loves where she lives and would serve the local issues. I’m not making a judgement based on policies here though, purely based on the vibe of the video.
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Nationals
The Nationals get a mention here purely for this terrible video which shows an image of regional Victoria all dressed in overalls and boots. Thanks Nationals for supporting a shallow stereotype of country Victoria.
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Phil Cleary
Finally I just wanted to Phil Cleary’s video as an example of how candidates could be using videos. Showing a local resident who has something good to say about him is excellent. None of the major parties have this on their YouTube channels. Why not? People like to have reassurance from people like them and people they trust. That’s why political parties still pump out corflutes for local residents to put in their front yards. Yes it’s rough, but it’s YouTube, you expect it to be rough. It was the sweetest and funniest out of all of the videos.
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This is the first in a series of posts I am planning to do on the materials surrounding the 2010 Victorian election so check back for new posts later or follow me on the twitter @atosha. .
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One party is recycling their ads from the federal election…
I think the strongest point is that getting ordinary voters to talk about why they are voting for one party or the other is very powerful.
You forgot the Australian Sex Party with their Jane Austen styled “Victorian Election” video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWyS6MBeNLE&feature=youtu.be
Aminorirony: I assume you are referring to the Greens? I’m not so sure they are just recycling ads, more so consolidating their ‘brand’. I’ll focus on the TVCs in a later post though and look at the Making History rehash.
David: I did indeed miss the Sex Party’s Victorian drama video, that’s for pointing it out. It’s worth a watch for those who are interested in these things. There are a lot of what I would call attack ads or political satire being put out by each of the parties which is quite interesting. I’m not sure if there has been any research done on how effecting attack ads are in vote winning but I’d be interested in seeing some if anyone knows….
I would have called the Sex Party’s ad a ‘non attack’ ad. Humour and satire are non attacking when seen alongside most of the ‘attack dog’ ads that Liberal and Labor do. The Sex Party as is clever without ripping into its opposition in terms of ‘you did this’ and ‘you did that…..so burn in hell’! which is the traditional mode. The Sex Party ad is so subtle that you have to watch it a few times to really get some of the very funny stuff in it. The fart joke is very subtle but very powerful but it doesn’t run Brumby’s nose in it…if you know what I mean.
@bob I would say it counts as an attack ad because it’s an ad by a political party asking for votes by saying the alternative is terrible. If it was a clip by a sketch comedy show which wasn’t asking you to vote for a certain party then I’d say it was just pure political satire.