A tricky chat to encourage change

The video above, “A Tricky Chat”, is a TV ad for BCITO, a provider of training for the building and construction industries in New Zealand and is part of a larger campaign called “Tradeup”. Using coming out imagery, the ad promotes the notion that parents can help or hinder their kids in their choice to become tradies (people working in the building and construction trades). It’s a good ad campaign, and a necessary thing to do.

There’s a critical skills shortage in New Zealand for people trained in building and construction trades, meaning that the Government must allow large numbers of foreign workers into New Zealand to meet demand. There’s also a problem that a low birthrate sixteen years ago means there’s a shortage of young people to enter training programmes. The ad campaign hopes to change that.

Studies have found that parents and teachers play a large role in steering kids in career directions, and with the age-old prejudice against the trades, kids are often dissuaded. And yet the first two years of training is free, so the young person can end their training with skills—and no debt.

In recent decades trades fell out of favour as something for kids from lower classes, and many of them were seen as not being bright enough for university. That classism and narrow mindedness is another factor that’s led to the skills shortage.

The irony is that anyone who’s ever needed a tradie—as we often have—can find it very difficult to find one who is free to do the job in a reasonable amount of time. So, they’re valuable not just for industry, but for ordinary people, too, and that means that increasing the number of tradies is a very good idea. I hope the ad campaign helps with that.

There are shorter versions of the ad, too. First a 30-second version:



A 15 second version also includes a bit not in the longer versions:



A different 15 second ad highlights education: