John X Presents production of Yes, Prime Minister hindered by Australia’s political advertising laws

A theatre adaptation of a classic British sitcom set to be performed at the Playhouse Theatre has run into an immovable obstacle: Australia’s political advertising laws.

Yes, Prime Minister cast members (L-R): Christopher Bunworth, Bard Ashworth (back) Petrie Porter, Jeff Keogh. Picture: Ben Armitage

A local theatre production adapting the classic British sitcom Yes, Prime Minister has encountered a problem a week out from opening night: Australia’s political advertising laws.

The play, produced by John X Presents, opens at the Playhouse Theatre next Friday and has been promoted on social media platforms.

That was, until the producers were barred from advertising via Facebook and Instagram last week.

Yes, Prime Minister cast members (L-R): Christopher Bunworth, Bard Ashworth (back) Petrie Porter, Jeff Keogh. Picture: Ben Armitage

Director Ben Armitage said the ads began to be automatically rejected by Meta – the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

“When we started trying to advertise Yes, Prime Minister a few weeks ago, the automatic system flagged it as a political advert,” he said.

“There’s a button where you request a review. And I would press that button and the review would happen and a couple of hours later, the ad would run. And that was happening pretty much most days.

“About 10 days ago, I think [Meta] changed something in the algorithm and … [our ads] started getting rejected.”

The culprit appears to be the term “prime minister”.

Section 321D of the Commonwealth Electoral Act requires certain communications to carry an authorisation statement or message declaring details about the person or entity responsible for the communication.

A poster for Yes, Prime Minister, a production by John X Presents. Picture: Supplied

Mr Armitage didn’t know whether the federal election had spooked Meta into cracking down on potentially unauthorised political ads but said the inability to promote a small theatre production in Hobart was problematic.

“Somewhere in the region of 50 per cent of ticket sales normally happen in the 10 days prior to opening night. Particularly in Tasmania, the majority of people book fairly late,” he said.

“And in terms of paid advertising, social media is our main avenue to that. So that was where the majority of our budget was planned to be spent.

“So it is difficult.”

Mr Armitage said Yes, Prime Minister was “funny, sharp, and clever” and “tragically relevant today”.

Meta was contacted for comment.

Yes, Prime Minister will be performed at the Playhouse Theatre from May 9-24. Tickets are available from playhouse.org.au.

Originally published as John X Presents production of Yes, Prime Minister hindered by Australia’s political advertising laws