Good day folks it’s election time down under and you know what that means political ads are everywhere but this year one man took it to a whole new level Clive Palmer the mining magnet and leader of the United Australia Party now rebranded as the Trumpet of Patriots subtle right decided to slide into the DMs well text messages of millions of Australians these unsolicited texts weren’t exactly winning any awards for subtlety or eloquence they promised everything from cheaper home loans to high-speed rail all while throwing in.
some classic anti-immigration rhetoric for good measure the grammar let’s just say it wouldn’t pass muster with a high school English teacher but hey when you’re trying to make a big splash who needs proper punctuation right well it turns out Australians care about proper punctuation and they definitely don’t appreciate being bombarded with unsolicited political messages the reaction to Palmer’s text blitz was about as welcome as a prawn on a Barbie that’s been left out in the sun too long.
Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots: 2 Under Fire After
social media erupted with complaints with people calling the texts invasive annoying and even downright creepy some questioned Palmer’s communication skills pointing out the grammatical errors as evidence that he was out of touch with everyday Australians others were just plain fed up with the constant barrage of political messaging it seemed like Clive Palmer was trying to win over voters the same way a particularly persistent telemarketer tries to sell you a time share through sheer unrelenting persistence now you might be thinking.
isn’t there a law against this kind of thing well here’s where things get interesting in Australia political parties enjoy a special exemption from the Spam Act and the Do Not Call Register that’s right folks the very laws designed to protect us from unwanted marketing calls and messages don’t apply to politicians the logic well the government argues that political communication is different from commercial advertising they say it’s essential for democracy that parties can communicate with voters even.
text message from trumpet of patriots : friendlyjordies
If those voters would rather not be bothered of course the cynics among us might say it’s more about politicians wanting to avoid the same rules that apply to everyone else to make matters worse political texts don’t even have to include an opt out option you know that little reply stop to unsubscribe message you get with most marketing texts yeah politicians don’t have to bother with that they can just keep texting you to their heart’s content whether you like it or not it’s like being stuck at a family barbecue.
with that one uncle who loves to corner you and rant about his political views except you can’t even pretend to go get another snag to escape you’re just trapped forced to endure the unsolicited messages until the sender decides they’re done section five hunting for numbers how did they get my mobile so how exactly did Clive Palmer get his hands on the mobile numbers of millions of Australians well the Australian Electoral Commission doesn’t just hand out voter data to anyone who asks parties have to get a bit more creative.
Why you keep getting texts from the Trumpet of Patriots:
than that one possibility is that they use data brokers these companies collect and sell personal information including phone numbers from a variety of sources another tactic is to purchase lists from other organizations like charities or businesses that have collected phone numbers for their own purposes and of course there’s always the good old-fashioned method of simply scraping publicly available data like phone numbers listed on websites or social media profiles section six a mountain of cash Clive’s advertising blitz now you might.
be thinking surely all this texting must have cost a fortune and you’d be right but Clive Palmer being the billionaire mining magnate that he is had plenty of cash to throw around in fact he spent a whopping $5.6 $.6 million on television advertising alone making him the third highest spender in the entire election campaign and that’s not even counting the millions he poured into online advertising with a particular focus on YouTube it seems like Palmer was determined to get his message out there no matter the cost whether it was.
Millions of Aussies Angry About ‘Unying’ Election Strategy
effective or not well that’s another story section seven spamming the electorate a not so proud tradition now it’s important to note that Clive Palmer isn’t the first Australian politician to resort to mass texting as a campaign tactic in fact it’s become an increasingly common practice in recent years back in 2016 the Labor Party sent out millions of texts about Medicare and the Liberal Party followed suit in 2022 with messages about asylum seekers it seems like every election cycle politicians are finding new and.
innovative ways to bombard us with unsolicited messages and with the increasing use of smartphones and social media it’s only going to get easier for them to reach us whether we like it or not section 8 did it work the impact of Palmer’s text tactics so the big question is did.
