Vote like a boss

The New Zealand Electoral Commission has always advertised to promote the NZ elections, from registration through to actual voting. This year is no different, but this year they’re trying to motivate younger voters to turn out to vote.

The ad above, “Vote Like A Boss”, is part of that effort to reach younger voters. It features Kiwi humour, and the attempt to help young people see that they can determine who is elected—they can be the boss. The ad is in reasonably heavy rotation on New Zealand TV at the moment.

The most common ads during election season ar the more general, and once voting opens, the ads encourage voting. Right now, there are two such ads in heavy rotation.

First up: “Vote now in the General Election and referendums”:



I’ve seen this ad on TV the most of the two in the series. The voice track in the ad was also recorded in Te Reo Māori and in Mandarin This ads can be seen on the Electoral Commission’s YouTube Channel.

Next is “Vote now in the referendums on End of Life Choice and cannabis”:



Like the ad above, this ad is also recorded in Te Reo. This ad originally started running at the start of the Advance Voting period.

There may be more, different ads before the NZ General Election on Saturday, October 17, but these are likely to continue running right up until then. While these particular ads are new for this year’s election, they run such ads every year.

We politics nerds look forward to the ads every election season—of course. But the important thing is that such ads are run at all: We need to encourage people to vote so the results have full legitimacy. It’s important—and a lot of work for some TV ads.