Voting campaign creates a stir
A $30,000 New Plymouth District Council campaign to get people to vote is causing a stir – and not entirely for the right reasons.
In an attempt to appeal to younger voters, the council is using an emoji – a cartoon image used in electronic messages and web pages – of a lump of excrement and the slogan ‘Give a s..t, vote today’.
‘‘We know half of us don’t vote; that’s typically younger people,’’ NPDC external relations manager Jacqueline Baker said.
‘‘We thought we might have to be a bit bold.’’
The council’s chief executive had a legal requirement under the Local Government Act to encourage voter participation, she said.
In New Plymouth only 47 per cent of the population voted in 2016.
However, the council did want to apologise in advance for any offence caused by the logo, she said.
‘‘(We thought) Given Kiwis like to have a bit of a laugh, what can we do that might really generate a conversation?
‘‘We came up with this emoji which, I guess, is the language of younger people.
‘‘Fifteen years ago Toyota did the ‘bugger’ (campaign) and now that’s a colloquial word that we all use.’’
The campaign had been signed off by chief executive Craig Stevenson and Baker as external relations manager, and they stand behind it, she said.
However, the reactions on the NPDC Facebook page were not all complimentary after the campaign was launched yesterday morning. What do you think of the council’s choice of emoji? Write to editor@dailynews.co.nz
‘‘Oh dear, this will make us the laughing stock of the country... I get the point but doesn’t work in this scenario,’’ Sandra Antill wrote.
‘‘Is it April fool’s day?’’ Karen Taylor wrote.
‘‘What in the 12yr old is going on here? Fire your marketing team,’’ Raurimu Courtenay added.
But others were supportive, saying the campaign was ‘‘awesome’’ and congratulating the council.
‘‘Who cares what you people think. The idea is that it catches people’s attention and gets them to vote. It’s worked whether yous like it or not, it’s caught your attention (sic),’’ Jessica Guptill wrote.
Baker said the reaction was kind of what they wanted – to get people talking – and her response was simply ‘‘vote’’.
‘‘Some of the best campaigns have humour.’’