Sydney marketing campaign slammed as being ‘abysmally lame’

A NEW ad was supposed to attract people to Sydney but it’s more likely to drive everyone to its cooler cousin, Melbourne, instead.

OH DEAR. If the NSW Government was trying to persuade everyone that post lockout Sydney was full of life, the signs are their latest marketing campaign has failed miserably.

A new ad by Transport for NSW (TfNSW), featuring former X-Factor contestant and actual YouTube star Jayden Rodrigues has started to get something of a cult following for all the wrong reasons.

It purports to highlight the charms of after dark Sydney but has been slammed as being “cringe worthy,” and so “abysmally lame” that it makes the “dystopian PG-13” version of Sydney look about as much fun as a “retirement village”.

The transport agency said the video was one of several designed to attract people to suburbs affected by the $2 billion project to create a Sydney light rail network.

With two mates in tow, dancer and singer Rodrigues traipses up and down Sydney’s main drag hunting for good times to prove you can “live it up locally”.

“We’re going to check out some of the city’s coolest spots the whole crew can enjoy,” he enthuses.

The “coolest spots” appear to be a cinema, the theatre, an amusement arcade and a karaoke bar. And when the trio bore of this overabundance of fun, they take selfies with each other.

“One of my favourite ways to chill at summer is going to the movies,” gushes Rodrigues as the video shows his companions larking about throwing popcorn at one another.

This. Is. Fun.

“For me the hardest call to make was to have one choc top or two,” he says.

“The city is buzzing this summer with so many ways to spin your night,”

Yet the video shows a city that is far from buzzing. Streets are blocked off by light rail works and in many shots the city looks deserted bar the trio. Even in the cinema they appear to be completely alone.

Rodrigues does his best to look really excited about the whole adventure. He should probably be up for a Logie.

“We dodged, we ducked and we high scored,” he says as the pals go to an amusement arcade. But what they don’t do is have a drink despite the length of George Street being strung with struggling bars that might welcome the custom.

Jayden Rodrigues and his mates show how you don’t need booze to have a good time.

The reactions to the video, it’s fair to say, haven’t been great.

Keep Sydney Open is the chief group railing against the city’s restrictive liquor laws. Campaign manager Tyson Koh said the video was bad Government “propaganda” that “savvy” people would see through and compared it to the equally derided. 2015 “Stoner Sloth” campaign warning young people off cannabis.

“The video’s portrayal of a night out is abysmally lame. It’s more like a birthday party for an 11 year old,” he told news.com.au.

“If the Government sincerely wants people to enjoy a night out in the city, perhaps they should remove the curfew which sends the opposite message”.

The Government introduced the so called lockout laws in 2014.

The controversial reforms, which have undoubtedly reduced assaults but have been blamed for decimating Sydney’s night-life, mandate venues in the CBD to close by 3am with last entries at 1.30am.

Earlier this month, the Government announced an easing of the laws from January but only by half an hour for live music venues. It’s been criticised as too little too late by many.

Me after watching that horrible #liveituplocally video of some X factor guy having the most pathetic night out in #Sydney 😩 make it stop. pic.twitter.com/N3f5Y3cKsf

— Kristie Nicolas (@TheKittenJam) December 18, 2016

Matt Barrie, whose LinkedIn rant against the lockouts went viral earlier in the year, was equally underwhelmed at the video.

“This video is cringe worthy, the NSW Government couldn’t even afford extras to make the streets or venues look busy in this dystopian PG-13 view of how the NSW Libs think we should be enjoying our nights.”

At one point in the video one of the most obvious marketing cliches is uttered. “There is something for everyone,” which essentially means there is nothing for any one.

“Something for everyone ...” said Pedro Vila on TfNSW’s Facebook page. “Unless you want live music, DJs or to responsibly enjoy a drink after 01:30. Who are you guys kidding?”

Transport for NSWs' Facebook page has not been kind to the video.

“So this is what a night out in a retirement village looks like,” wrote Jake Edwards. Others said it was the best unintentional advert for Melbourne ever.

To be fair, the video is not aimed at spruiking Sydney as a whole. Rather, it’s letting people know that George St around Haymarket — which is currently closed while the new tram network is built — still has businesses that desperately need some trade.

A spokeswoman for TfNSW said other videos had already been created for Kingsford and Surry Hills.

“The Live it Up Locally videos promote a range of businesses and suggested activities along the light rail alignment to attract visitors to the area during construction,” she said.

But that message appears may have been lost.

“Shockingly embarrassing for Sydney. Nothing unique to do. Just the same movies, karaoke, arcade games and theatre shows you can find in any city, or even in many outer suburbs,” said another commenter.

“Dubbo is looking good right now,” said David Hunter.

The video has also been criticised for how expensive the activities are. One person suggested that adding everything up — even excluding the arcade games — would set each person back around $200 a head.

Rodrigues has, thus far, decided to elaborate about his involvement in the video or whether really — really, really — his idea of a top night out is two choc tops and playing Dance Dance Revolution at the arcade.

It appears he has not chosen to upload the video to his YouTube channel so his near one million subscribers won’t get the chance to discover his top tips for summertime fun in Sydney. Make of that what you will.