Commonwealth Games 2018: Annastacia Palaszczuk apologies for tradies bike ad
PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has apologised to those who took offence at a Commonwealth Games ad, which was described as “spitting in the face of tradies”.
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PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has apologised to Gold Coast tradies upset over a Commonwealth Games ad suggesting they should pedal to work during the Games.
The TV commercial, launched this week, depicted a cartoon tradie riding to work on a pink child’s bike.
It was part of a ‘Get Set For The Games’ campaign to encourage Gold Coasters to consider other forms of transport to reduce chaos during the April mega-event.
But the ad outraged many tradies who said it was an insult to suggest they should ride a pushbike to work with all their tools.
Speaking at a Games media conference on Wednesday, Ms Palaszczuk said she was sorry if the ad had offended anyone.
“Sometimes advertising is used to get people to look at things but at the end of the day I don’t want anyone to feel upset,” she said.
“I don’t want anyone to feel, you know, that people are having a laugh at them.
“If people are feeling that way, I apologise and I think the Commonwealth Games people should apologise as well.”
Commonwealth Games CEO Mark Peters said the ad campaign was being reviewed after ‘some people reacted to a cartoon on television’.
“It was all done because sometimes you need humour in life,” he said.
“You don’t want to insult people and if that’s happened, as the Premier said ... that’s an apology.”
Mr Peters said Get Set For The Games was aimed at encouraging locals to ‘do things differently during the Games’ to minimise disruption.
“This is a world event, no-one said it was going to be easy,” he said.
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