“Cringe” Attack Raps and Navigating US Influence: How to Advertise an Australian Election

Political campaigns are always going to involve risk, but the Liberal Party’s latest attempt to capture the zeitgeist has resulted in more ridicule than resonance if the online response is anything to go by. Yesterday, the Peter Dutton-led party released an attack rap aimed at Labor – genuinely described by the Coalition as “Kendrick [Lamar] meeting Question Time” and featuring lyrics such as, “We living cheque to cheque, Labor’s got us feeling so stressed”, and “Albo’s got to leave”.

When asked about the diss track, titled ‘Leaving Labor’, opposition leader Peter Dutton said while he hadn’t listened to it, “I’m sure the gurus have put together a cracking ad.”

Alex Watts, executive director of social and strategy at Poem, disagrees.

“There’s an endless desire for brands of all kinds to participate in culture,” he told LBB.

“It’s a good idea when you do it right because there’s endless proof that it drives attention and contributes to all kinds of growth. However… it also has to be good. It has to be true to the audience you’re talking to, and relevant to where they’re at at that point in time otherwise it’s invisible – or worse, cringe.”

Watts said the current political media landscape is already dominated by “memes and podcasts” and “chronically online content,” which means the bar for cultural relevance is higher than ever.

“This attack rap – politics aside – feels deeply cringe. Maybe it’s the dated reference in the album art, the kind of flat beat, or how aggressively they’ve woven policy in. Whatever it is, I’m probably not adding this one to my running playlist any time soon.”

Beyond slightly tone-deaf musical stunts, political advertising in Australia remains one of the highest-stakes exercises in communication.

In the 2004 election, 98 of the parliament’s 150 federal seats were decided by primary votes, with the rest going to preferences. In 2019, that number dropped to 46, and again to 15 in 2022.

In the upcoming election, only three seats out of 150 are predicted to be won outright on primary votes as people turn more to non-major parties.

Andrew Cox is the deputy managing partner of public affairs at GRACosway, a public affairs and strategic communications firm that sits within Clemenger Group. He said for those working on the campaign, developing election messaging is slightly different to standard behaviour change campaigns.

“They are different in the sense that one is really about education. There is an education component in an election campaign, but the election campaign messaging is really about the personal and disaffection of people, tapping into people’s emotions,” he said.

“You don't have a lot of time to get that message through. You’re trying to make the case as directly and simply as possible in that short period when people are just not engaged that much these days.”

Working within a compressed time period also means campaign teams need to walk the tightrope between staying on message and reacting in real time.

“A lot of the time that is about the quality of your leader and your senior team,” Andrew said. “You can have a brilliant message, but if you don’t have the right person delivering that message, then that’s not going to work.”

This will be the first time Australia heads to the polls since Donald Trump emerged victorious in November’s US election. Australia has always taken notes from its geopolitical big brother, and this election cycle is no different.

Andrew noted that “very similar[ly] to what we saw in the US … disaffected voters who feel ignored” are a key battleground in Australia.

“There's been a lot of discussion, particularly from the Coalition side, trying to appeal to the outer suburban, rural and regional voters, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney, which is where a lot of the most winnable seats are for this election campaign. They're really trying to tap into that genuine disaffection people have about cost of living, where they are, where they sit in the world. They're really trying to tap into that, making the argument that Trump did – and he succeeded with that.”

On the flip side, Gerry Cyron, executive head brand thinker at Thinkerbell, sees Peter Dutton’s current predicament as dealing with the fact that “Trump is doing Labor a favour” through his messaging.

“Dutton is now struggling to find his mojo – he is flip-flopping on policies, distancing himself from Trump’s train (wreck) of thoughts, and, consequently, is in dire need to establish a new narrative if he wants to succeed.”

There was plenty of discussion around the use and power of influencer endorsements and other major public figures in the US election. Down Under, Gerry said those influencers don’t have the same impact as they do in the States.

“The cult of personality is certainly a thing. I am hoping – maybe naively so – less in Australia compared to what we continue to witness in the US of A,” he said. “That said, micro-influencers with trust capital in specific communities or with aligned values and perceived authenticity can have an impact.

“Think of someone like Dylan Alcott endorsing disability policy reform. Or take ‘Senator’ Adam Briggs backing the Voice (unfortunately unsuccessfully) – but that might be a case in point.”

During this election campaign, Abbie Chatfield is one influencer who has been particularly visible, interviewing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, posing with Greens leader Adam Bandt, and encouraging her followers to vote for the Greens. A Liberal Senator asked the Australian Electoral Commission to review the content to ensure it wasn’t paid advertising and didn’t need to be ‘authorised’ by a candidate or party. The AEC cleared the podcast clips and is still looking into Instagram posts cross-posted to both the creator and politicians’ pages.

Beyond individual influencers, all three leaders have been targeting young voters on TikTok. According to influencer marketing platform Fabulate, Prime Minister Albanese's content is performing best, with views on his videos outpacing Peter Dutton's by 6:1 and Adam Bandt's by 9:1.

“Clearly the Albanese team have learnt a lesson or two about TikTok and are following best practice on the platform, which is posting consistency and having clear content pillars to message to your audience," said Fabulate's chief product and strategy officer, Nathan Powell.

Whether online or offline, Gerry agrees with Andrew that an election campaign, like all good brand campaigns, must tap into emotions. But when it comes to which emotions an Australian political campaign should focus on in 2025, Gerry said “calling one emotion over the other is a tough ask.”

“They all serve different purposes. Anger mobilises and polarises. Fear taps into risk aversion. Hope encourages positive association,” he said.

“The most effective campaigns combine these emotions in calibrated ways. Think of Obama’s 2008 campaign… Hope was the dominant narrative, underpinned by anger at the status quo and social injustice, and accompanied with a dash of fear about the future under continued Republican leadership.”

But right now?

“At the moment, it’s fear and uncertainty,” said Andrew. “We're seeing a catastrophic global downturn in the financial markets, they are the overwhelming emotive factors that you're seeing from both major parties.

“You just have to have a look at what advertising is out there, what communications they're putting out there – some of the stuff they're putting out is positive, but if you look at what both sides are doing, it really is about the fear of what the other side puts forward.”