The Campaign

Research shows that empathy can change behaviour and influence choices. Our aim was to make same-sex marriage relatable and real to those who aren’t close to the cause, or who may not even know any LGBTQI couples. Our idea was to cut through the negative and divisive rhetoric with a passionate, powerful, and unifying message: everyone deserves the right to marry. Using real wedding footage of Australian same-sex couples married overseas we created a positive representation of same-sex marriage that all people could relate to, even those who may not know any openly gay, lesbian or bisexual couples. Our 60” film captured the joy marriage brings to every couple, regardless of orientation. These universal moments revealed a simple truth – same-sex weddings are the same as any wedding and love is love regardless of gender. Our ad ended with a simple message: For every bachelor and bachelorette, vote Yes.

Creative Execution

From the confirmation in the Australian High Court that the postal vote would take place, to the on-air date, we had 12 days. In this time we crowd-sourced the footage, edited the commercial, found a sponsor to donate the air time and secured the rights to the music and talent (the dozens of brides, grooms and guests that appeared in the footage). With zero budget, we connected with corporations, musicians and production companies that were supportive of the cause and willing to donate their services. At the same time, we synchronised the publishing of the film across social media channels using the established hashtags (#VoteYes and #TheBachelorAU) to hijack the social conversation in real-time. We engaged high-profile advocates such as Sarah Blasko and Crowded House to share during the show to spread the reach further. Marriage Equality team were engaging, retweeting, and responding throughout the evening to continue the momentum.

Results

Social media momentum after the film aired had a huge impact: high profile celebrities, advocates, and activists at home and abroad joined the conversation, increasing our reach monumentally. The film created a huge conversation in the media in the days following, receiving more commentary on #TheBachelorAU hashtag than the finale itself. Over 80% of all comments on our film were positive, with 15% of comments explicitly stating they had or would be voting Yes, and 30% directly celebrating the content of the film. An estimated 58% of the voting public was reached, and the campaign generated a global reach of 21M+, with the total TV reaching 2M people. We reached a total of 15.3M people across all social media with 4.8M social video views. The public also initiated a fundraising campaign that saw the film re-aired on national TV. $106,002 was raised by a chuffed.org campaign.

With a single donated media spot during the finale of The Bachelor, we hijacked a popular reality TV moment to inspire Australians to vote Yes to legalising same-sex marriage. We identified a significant moment in time, the arrival of postal voting ballots on September 14, and the show's finale that same night. We created a film to target this perfect opportunity for maximum impact. Created with zero production budget and zero media spend, the film was widely shared on social media, upstaging the show’s grand finale and creating huge conversation in the media that night and in the days following.

We identified the perfect moment in time to target disconnected, undecided voters - the arrival of the postal ballots in the mail on September 14 and the airing of the finale of the popular reality TV show, The Bachelor, on that same night. We leveraged the convergence of these two significant moments to maximise our reach and PR potential. With zero budget, donated media, and a strategically placed ad, we juxtaposed the concept of The Bachelor making his decision of who he was going to marry, with same-sex couples who were denied that right. We aimed to ignite a national and global conversation, use the exposure to cultivate empathy and advocacy, and appeal to influential advocates to share and amplify the message during this high impact moment. We published the film online as it aired, allowing people to watch, share, and tag for maximum earned reach and virality.