Young supporters of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament have been told to ‘groom a boomer’ into voting Yes on referendum day.
In a lighthearted new short film from the Perth-based Berlin Creative agency, millennials and Gen Z Yes voters are told to hide their boomer parents’ remotes and change their iPads’ language settings from English to Danish in order to coax them into having discussions about the Voice.
‘Your uncle, your dad, your mum… you might be living in a house full of no’s, in a house full of closet home-no’s,’ the ad says.
‘If we vote Yes, amazing things could happen. Cathy Freeman: out of retirement, wins 10 more gold. Ernie Dingo: out of retirement, 10 more seasons of Getaway.
‘Try crying, try begging. Say hey mum, hey dad, do you actually love me? Because it’s not looking like you love me right now.’
Another suggestion in the ad is to ‘buy your dad a drone’ but refuse to hand it over ‘until they’ve voted’.
‘But if they’re good, they can get a drone.’
Similarly, young voters are encouraged to gift their mother gold class movie tickets to see Barbie.
‘If we vote Yes, they get to tell their side of the story instead of us doing it. You ever have your mum tell one of your jokes?’
Film director Tony Rogers said the goal of the film was to contrast some of the negative and hurtful discourse over the Voice.
‘Only 25 percent of Aussies aged over 55 are expected to vote Yes for the Voice. If we can change the minds of the baby boomers, we can make a big difference to the outcome. Those boomers might not listen to big campaigns, but perhaps they will listen to their children,’ he said.
And Berlin Creative’s Director Richard Bernie told 6PR Perth the advert is supposed to be taken in good humour.
‘Whether it’s a yes or a no… that’s not the point of it,’ he said.
In a lighthearted new short film from Perth-based Berlin Creative, millennials and Gen Z Yes voters are told to hide their boomer parents’ remotes and change their iPads from English to Danish in the language settings in order to coax them into having discussions about the Voice
Anthony Albanese has held firm in his belief Australians will vote Yes to the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament when the referendum is held
‘I just wanted to help people talk a little bit because everything’s gotten a bit heated. It’s gotten a bit much, we just need to turn the heat down a bit.’
As for the name of the film, Groom a Boomer, Mr Bernie said he and his team questioned whether it went too far.
‘We all got a bit nervous about that,’ he said.
‘But it was the one we all remembered and we all chuckled so we thought we’d go with it.’
And strategy director John Linton said: ‘I know even in my own family there are differing opinions. But maybe, just maybe, a little dry humour might resonate.
‘If all else fails I’ll be saying to my dad, I really really want this and you’ll be dead soon so please leave this yes vote as part of your legacy for your grandkids.’
The short film has been produced pro bono and has no affiliation with the official Yes campaign.
Gen Z and millennials have the highest support for the Voice out of all age brackets. Redbridge polling has the Gen Z vote as high as 60 per cent in favour of the proposal, and millennials at about 45 per cent.
Meanwhile, 33 per cent of Gen X are in favour, and it drops to just 28 per cent of baby boomers.
But that’s not to say young voters are a sure thing. Even the Yes vote within these groups has been trending down in polling as the referendum date edges closer.
Yes campaigning groups the Uluru Dialogue and Yes23 have been consistently urging young supporters to have conversations with their loved ones about the Voice and why they’re voting Yes.
Another suggestion in the ad is to ‘buy your dad a drone’ but refuse to hand it over ‘until they’ve voted’
Gen Z and millennials have the highest support for the Voice out of all age brackets