I despise that Worksafe TV advert as much as I despise that car crash salesman TV advert – it just manages to sum up all that is awful about neoliberal NZ in just 2 adverts!
I’ve also included the Electric Kiwi TV advert because you can’t spew hate on NZ TV advertising without mentioning the creative atrocity that is that steaming dog turd of an advert.
Neoliberalism in NZ can’t exist without the never ending perverse cultural propaganda to promote its mythologies.
Worksafe TV Advert
I have no idea if this is true, but this feels like it’s been brainfarted out by a Wellington Ad agency who sold the Meerkats as some amazing Weta Digital special effects spectacular to justify their outrageous fee.
It’s weird in the age of Me Too that the woman is able to ‘save’ the worker in a manner that comes across technically like sexual assault, but this is Woke Wellington so it’s okay when a bigger woman challenging the stereotypes of beauty is sexually aggressive because that’s funny empowerment.
Hashtag feminism.
Hashtag solidarity.
The reason this Worksafe advert is neoliberal Wellington propaganda bullshit is because the entire way this advert is framed is around the workers responsibility to ensure their work space is safe.
That’s right, this is an advert that justifies the bullshit light weight safety regulations we have in this country and puts the responsibility for ensuring that workplace safety on the workers, not the fucking bosses.
Ever since the Unions were smashed, Governments have watered any real work safety obligations down to an almost voluntary system that only gets punished when there is catastrophe, and even then the bosses tend to walk free.
In this advert, it’s the workers who have to make their work space safe, the fucking bosses aren’t involved at all, and as for the meerkats, I don’t know what the fuck they are doing in this advert. Like I said, it reeks of Weta Digital.
Let’s have a Worksafe advert where the Meerkats get blown up in a mine and the Boss gets away with it and tell everyone it was the Meerkats responsibility for the explosion in the first place shall we?
Car crash salesman TV advert
Every time this tedious advert is on, I’m confused.
It’s not just the convoluted try hard ramming down the throat perplexity of the plot line of each advert that befuddles me, it’s the simple question of, ‘if these cars are so shit in a crash that they will hideously mutilate those in the car, THEN WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY ALLOWED TO BE SOLD HERE IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE!’, that bewilders me so much.
That’s right, note that it’s not our shitty, weak, poorly policed car safety regulations that are the issue here, oh no, it’s dumb people buying death traps in the first place that’s the problem.
Rather than demand tighter safety standards, we put on adverts blaming the people buying the cars and getting horribly injured in them instead, because it’s cheaper than actually having to police safety standards of all the second hand car imports and sales.
Once again, the lax regulation is glossed over and made a personal choice issue rather than a failure of Governments to act.
Kiwi Electric Advert
Ok, this is just such a hot mess of an advert. Who the fuck is the target demo here? Solo Dads who have been dragged through the Family Court process and spent all their money on the joint custody decision and so have to catch public transport and count their pennies for the monthly electricity bill?
This advert is somehow more grim than that. It’s the singing.
I add it because it’s so terrible, but there’s also a neoliberal ideological element here as well. We wouldn’t have to put up with this abortion of an advert if we weren’t being sold the false choice of an electricity market that has the illusion of competition with none of the actual benefits of competition.
In every way, every day, the neoliberal State is putting the obligations of their lack of regulation on you and selling that ‘choice’ as empowerment.
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I deal with Worksafe and their wacky ways a lot. I am having to spend 1,000 on a special ‘scaled’ site plan that has important things such as arrows pointing north. The Fire Service HQ is no better last year they rejected an evacuation plan because the exit signs were red and not blue. Then there is the MSDS sheets where we have invented our own ‘system’ despite the balance of the developed world (read Europe, North America and Asian) using a globally accepted system that says the same thing.
After experiencing H&S through the eyes of a SME over the past 5 years it is apparent that Worksafe is only a butt covering exercise and not invested in safety itself. The irony of course all this time dicking around with manuals and evacuation plans could have been better spent upgrading safety equipment and on the job training (you know the things that actually save lives/improve outcomes). How anyone believes having 100 page manuals with task analysis on using ladders is going to improve our poor record with H&S as a nation has got me buggered.
As for the cars as someone who is involved in the automotive industry I can tell you that:
a). The reason for these cars is a good deal of the population can’t afford safer cars in the first place
b). Taking them away will have a detrimental effect on those at the bottom of the food chain
c). Ever had any proper analysis on whether taking these cars away will actually improve the road toll – no – wonder why?
The law of unintended consequences will strike here.
But hey I digress overall I agree with your sentiments – the quality of ads in NZ is beyond shit. The reason I avoid most TV these days.
Agree 1000% Frank the Tank on your work safety views but not on the unsafe cars.
In particular you are spot on about the lack of health and safety in practical terms and more in terms of arse covering from Worksafe. The culture of the people working there is wrong. Safety is a practical thing not a manual and everyone would be looking at practical ways to be safe, not bizarre woke money making approaches to safety on paper with the right coloured sign being of the most importance to compliance.
+1000
“After experiencing H&S through the eyes of a SME over the past 5 years it is apparent that Worksafe is only a butt covering exercise and not invested in safety itself. The irony of course all this time dicking around with manuals and evacuation plans could have been better spent upgrading safety equipment and on the job training (you know the things that actually save lives/improve outcomes). How anyone believes having 100 page manuals with task analysis on using ladders is going to improve our poor record with H&S as a nation has got me buggered.”
What’s with the meercats in the Worksafe ad?
Leftover rights Clemengers had with Telecom?
In regards to the car safety advert, it could also be pointed out that it is all very well to tell people to buy safer cars but you have to have money to do that
Correct. Why do you think those cars are in NZ in the first place.
Brilliant post and excellent points, in particular
“The reason this Worksafe advert is neoliberal Wellington propaganda bullshit is because the entire way this advert is framed is around the workers responsibility to ensure their work space is safe.
That’s right, this is an advert that justifies the bullshit light weight safety regulations we have in this country and puts the responsibility for ensuring that workplace safety on the workers, not the fucking bosses.”
Also a valid point, “It’s weird in the age of Me Too that the woman is able to ‘save’ the worker in a manner that comes across technically like sexual assault, but this is Woke Wellington so it’s okay when a bigger woman challenging the stereotypes of beauty is sexually aggressive because that’s funny empowerment.”
and
“‘if these cars are so shit in a crash that they will hideously mutilate those in the car, THEN WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY ALLOWED TO BE SOLD HERE IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE!’, that bewilders me so much.”
Thankfully have not yet seen the Kiwi Electric Advert.
Thanks so much Martyn. Yes these are all shit propaganda/advertising. The electric car ad is the worst because electric vehicles are overpriced. Their batteries cost more than a safe solid old Toyota when they crap out(which they do). Electric vehicle battery technology cannot service the Rural community because they have a small range. Hybrids on the other hand are can . And NZ had it’s on Bio fuel plant which was shut down due to government indifference / pig ignorance. There is a hughenumber of diesel vehicles on our roads that were designed to run on bio diesel. There have been bio diesel /hybrid vehicles available globally for 15 years!!!! Our government has a useless virtually nonexistent energy policy because our government is mad up of ignorant technologically illiterate muppets. Electric vehicles are NOT the answer we . We do not have sufficient capacity in the electricity grid to charge are large number of electric vehicle. This is a transition period of time in the race to kill the planet more slowly. Hybrids have been the answer for 30 years. Our government thru it’s absolute stupidity has stymied the use of them.
We live in a country where 7500 tons of toxic waste is allowed to be stored and Environment Southland is all for it sponsored by Tiwai polluter, and Worksafe seems to be missing in action when people are hospitalised as well. Good luck thinking our environment court will do anything about it. It is the NZ way of victimising the victims.
(well worth watching the movie).
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018772512/the-paper-mill-mataura-s-toxic-waste-nightmare
At least they have removed the cheek caressing shhhh from the worksafe ad. That made me a little sick every time it played.
Good article. Sexually aggressive, Weta Digital: that sounds familiar.
My old lecturer said to me that watching adds was the real way to understand what was going on.
The latest BNZ add could be added to this quite comfortably as well, except I think fails completely to soften the fact that the bankers are scum*.
* to understand the true low level of scum our current crop of bankers are, please read the FINCEN files – https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/
There is something insipid about the electric kiwi ad (and its predecessor). Much prefer this version.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=search&v=711462369657760&external_log_id=961b0158-0c56-45a4-a73f-9c50cb552484&q=electric%20kiwi
Awesome….awesome comments
So glad I don’t vote or watch TV, or listen to RNZ.
IMO it exposes the government as ‘government lite’ or a veneer of ‘government’
or lazy lazzey faire non government. It why things are this way and won’t change. That’s why we have elections, to give the appearance of change.. lol.
All for bans on cheap unsafe cars but when it comes to work places Ive seen situations where anyone could see the accident waiting to happen and nothing was done about it. The boss pushing speed and ‘productivity’ and flouting regulations isn’t going to make a workplace safer. So maybe advertising to embolden workers to stand up on safety is a good thing. Better if its done collectively.
Its almost as if the powers that be are using these ads to have a good old laugh at us and what they can get away with. Nothing would surprise me.
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