How candidates are getting your attention

A mullet wig glued to a lookalike mannequin strapped to the top of old fire red truck, Instagram competitions, personalised websites, beaming smiles on digital billboards and self-proclaimed media platforms.

No, the circus is not in town. It’s local body election time.

As voter apathy increases and voting returns slide towards the 40% mark, council candidates are finding new ways to grab the attention of those in their community.

Gone are the days when slapping up a billboard and mastering a two-minute stand-up for candidate meetings would get wannabe politicians a spot at the next council table.

For most, anyway.

Depending on how you measure the effectiveness of candidate’s campaign, before the votes are actually counted, it would be hard to fault the enthusiasm of rookie mayoral candidate Murray ‘‘Muzza’’ McDowell.

His repurposed fire-enginered truck with a mulleted mannequin strapped to the top is quite possibly the city’s most omnipresent object, seeming to be in all places at all times.

If car toots were transferred to actual votes, Muzza might be leading the polls, especially if they were conducted in Moturoa’s Tiger Town.

He certainly had the support of the city’s barber shops, who report a roaring trade in the leadup to the Muzza-inspired mullet competition that had them lining the streets outside Crowded House at the weekend.

Fellow mayoral candidate Murray Chong might feel his copyright has been breached with Muzza’s effective use of a motor vehicle to gain political points.

But the man who put the Zen in Zenvest knows the practicalities of a good ute to advertise your business and your political positions.

It’s not rocket science to load messages on to a large vehicle and increase the carbon output around the district by making sure it’s seen outside almost everything, but it remains one of the best forms of visual advertising.

Voters lining up at the pedestrian criss-cross on the Devon St flat have also been the recipients of huge broad smiles on candidates such as David Bublitz and Sam Bennett who ask for their support in between ads for used cars and tropical holidays.

The digital age might not have caught up with all candidates, however, with some more than happy to stick with designs that appear to have stretched across central government, mayoral and council campaigns.

Former Labour MP and New Plymouth mayor Harry Duynhoven is well known for his thrifty approach to campaigning with some of his hoardings appearing to hark back to last century.

Several first-time candidates have not been shy of tapping into world of web campaigning, with

Hepa Te Moana offering $50 vouchers to local businesses for the best photos snapped of anyone beside one of his hoardings.

Former news jock and Kaitake Ngāmotu candidate Bryan Vickery has used his media platform to interview fellow candidates, raising both their profiles at once.

While some may have expected Vickery to hit pause on his video platform, he’s got around any prick to his conscience by getting some candidates to even interview themselves.

Vickery has also helped promote the Let’s Talk app, which allows voters to ask candidates questions without the glare of public surrounds.

The app is proving a winner for the likes of sitting mayor Neil Holdom, who is also standing for another term, as he answers a flurry of on-line questions with speed and confidence, while some of his opposition refuse to even engage.

Let the campaigns continue.