This week we’re running a series featuring five of the most effective political adverts. Today it’s the turn of Australian politics and an early 1970s musical classic:
Yesterday’s Lyndon B. Johnson Daisy Girl advert was a one-off, but by contrast one of the most effective TV advertisements in Australian political history was part of a well-planned wider campaign. After 23 years of Liberal Party rule, Gough Whitlam’s Labor party in 1972 used the slogan “It’s time“ to sum up its argument that it was time for a change. This theme was reflected widely in the Labor Party’s activities and also in the classic TV advert.
Looking more like the sort of pop video that subsequently became popular, the advert featured an Australian rock singer, Alison McCallum, singing a song about how it was time to change, intercut with stills of Gough Whitlam’s background and a supporting singing chorus of Australian celebrities. It worked far better than that might make it sound!
(Also available on YouTube here.)
You can see all the posts in this series on our Political Ads page – and scroll to the bottom of that page for Luis Fishman’s classic. The stretch from 7 seconds in until 22 seconds in is fairly normal. But as for the rest…
One Comment
For many years I have been a member and supporter of the Liberal Democrats because of “What we stand for”. Of particular relevance is the statement that:
“For those youngsters leaving school, university is getting more and more expensive. To get a degree, young people are saddled with thousands of pounds of debt when it is tough enough to get a job, get on the housing ladder and make ends meet.
Liberal Democrats believe university education should be free and everyone who has the ability should be able to go to university and not be put off by the cost.”
This has been and continues to be a fundamental principle that I consider of vital importance, not just for the students concerned, for the continued prosperity of this country.
It is self-evident that the standard of living of everyone in this country depends upon the standard of education that every young person is able to obtain, whatever their background. For this reason I have to express my absolute disgust at the support the Liberal Democrat party leadership has given to the proposals for higher education tuition fees. Whilst the poorest members of society might have been protected, the vast majority of families will question benefit of a University qualification when considering the cost, will be denied the opportunity or take the decision not to attend university. As an additional point, it seems the party leadership are unaware that today an income of £21,000 p.a., after deduction of tax, national insurance, pension contributions, accommodation and basic living costs, is just about the minimum figure to live on independently in the South East, particularly taking into account the indirect taxes which are imposed on most expenditure, Are we going to have any doctors trained in the country if they are likely to finish their training with debts of over £50,000?
The pledges that were signed before the election were given in the full knowledge of the financial situation and the likely outcome of those elections, but have meant nothing, and the LibDems have lost all credibility as a result. Disillusionment on this issue is widespread among students, their parents and grandparents, and the possibility of winning future by-elections and the likelihood of retaining LibDem seats at the next general election has significantly diminished.
We all understand fully the financial problems faced by the UK, but it would have been far better to put a (temporary) surcharge on the higher tax rates than prejudice the education of the next generation. The LibDem memberships of both my wife and self are now being terminated, and I sincerely hope that there will be a change in this policy by those who are in a position to influence the decision. Nick Clegg should have taken a tougher stance and threatened to terminate the coalition; perhaps David Cameron would then have reconsidered the exceptionally severe cuts to education funding proposed by the Treasury.
We cannot tolerate duplicity and both are resigning
John and Jean Ritson (members 3626237and 8364214)