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Liberals Try to Appeal to Commoners, Fail Miserably, Get Memed #faketradie

Aw bless their souls, the Libs tried to appeal to the lower class by directing one of their new campaign ads towards tradies. Tried and failed miserably, instead coining the hashtag #faketradie and humiliating themselves by underestimating the intelligence levels of […]

Aw bless their souls, the Libs tried to appeal to the lower class by directing one of their new campaign ads towards tradies. Tried and failed miserably, instead coining the hashtag #faketradie and humiliating themselves by underestimating the intelligence levels of the Australian public, and the brutality of the internet (serves them right for trying anything on Game of Thrones day).

The ad basically features a paid actor who they covered in dust, whacked a high-vis vest on, given him a cuppa (because tradies do ads for the Liberal Party on smoko), and got him to talk shit about Bill Shorten. The “tradie” says that Shorten is attacking tradesmen just like him, and is going to screw with the economy. Now, I find it irritating when the Liberal Party constantly attack Labor for poorly handling our economy. Clearly they forget Labor treasurer Wayne Swan, who managed to keep Australia out of the recession. Or the uncomfortable fact that Tony Abbot had Australia in far more debt than Labor did, despite using Labor’s debt as one of his main attack strategies.

Really #faketradie? Really? What do they have on you? Source

Another sneaky part of this ad was when #faketradie mentioned that Shorten was attacking miners. Ha Hahahahaha Haha Ha. Think we didn’t notice? No, Labor isn’t attacking miners. But, if billionaire mining magnates could pay their fucking tax, that’d be great.

I have a problem with this ad for a multitude of reasons. The first being that this ad isn’t for tradies. This ad is for rich people to look at and say “oh dear, Labor is making us pay tax AND they’re stopping the peasants from achieving their dreams!”.

Like, I’m sorry, but no tradesman is looking at that guy and saying “Aw yeah, I relate to this bloke sitting on a work bench talking at me.” Nope.

They’re saying “Yeah, but my kids need medicare, and I need trade unions to make sure me and my workers aren’t getting exploited, and I’m working hard so my kids get a good education.” OR they’re saying “Nice try Liberals, but my apprentices are getting screwed over because you’ve cut TAFE funding. I see exactly what you’re up to.”

And they’re definitely NOT saying “stick with the current mob for a while.”

Liberal Party be like...
Liberal Party be like…

The problem with this ad is that the Libs are completely blindsided by their own arrogance and prejudice. Most people in the Liberal Party, at least those in power anyway, have probably never done a day of hard physical work in their life. They probably went from a private school, to an elite uni, to a cushy desk/office job and then to parliament. They don’t actually know anything about tradesmen other than when they do renovations on their holiday house.  They don’t know what it’s like to work on first year apprentice wages, they don’t know what it’s like to have to cough up a few grand on the spot or not be able to get your qualifications, and they don’t really know who they’re talking to.

“Look! I’m just like you! Fellow underling!” Source

It’s shit like this that shows just how out of touch they are. They have no idea who their target audience actually is, and they also have no idea what stupid moves like this will do to them. Gen Y is ruthless. We may be entitled, lazy, and doomed to rent houses forever, but we know how to photoshop shit, and make vicious memes, and if you talk down to us, we will end you.