Honest Government Ads is an online video series of "surprisingly honest and informative" Public Service Announcement parodies, launched in May 2016. Produced by Melbourne-based TheJuiceMedia of Rap News fame, the videos mainly cover and heavily satirise Australian (and to a lesser extent, American and British) politics from a left-wing, environmentalist perspective.
The HGAs have gained attention on multiple occasions, including for their use of a fictional "Coat of Harms" which landed TheJuiceMedia in political hot water following an email sent to them by a government official requesting that they stop using the satirical logo, as well as the proposal of a Bill to Australian Parliament planning to "introduce new offences" to people impersonating Australian Government services.
Visit the full playlist of the Honest Government Ads here
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PG versions can be found here.
With tropes like these, who needs terrorists?
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Done in "The Floods" when describing the destruction of homes:"Homes underwater?"
"Homes on fire?"
"Homes underwater and on fire?"
"No problem. Try, Get Fucken Used To It." - Censored for Comedy: From "We Make Everything Good Sh!t":"Hello, I'm from the BOM*, and today's forecast is brought to you by our sponsors, who gave us millions to not mention climate c[BEEP]."
- Country Matters: The presenters are not shy about the use of the C-word. Granted, the word is not as offensive in Australia as it is in the United States.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The first few videos in the series used only voiceover from Lucy, with on-screen presenters Zoë and Ellen being introduced in the fourth HGA ("Dakota Access Pipeline").
- Every Episode Ending: Every HGA ends with an on-screen "Authorised by [Fictional department/ministry]" message.
- False Reassurance: In "We're F***ed", several locations around the world are described as "fine", when in fact they are actually dealing with mass wildfires."Even Greenland's on fucking fire- I mean, fine".
- Fun with Acronyms:
- In the very first HGA, the Sanitize Australia Development Strategy.
- The Disaster Economic Recovery Plan.
- Lampshaded in the Electronic Vehicles HGA, which mentions the Government's Future Fuels and Vehicles Strategynote , and points out it's actually what they called it.
- "Carbon Capture & Storage": The acronym CCS gets a U added to it for "Use", which is then followed up by NT for "New Technologies". At the end of the video, the letters are rearranged to form the acronym CCUNTS.
- "Carmichael Coal and Rail Project":
- In the very first HGA
- Mood Dissonance: The presenters talk very cheerfully and with a smile on their face even while explaining horrific actions, such as the mistreatment of horses in "The Melbourne Cup".
- Running Gag:
- The presenter bashing a calculator before ending with "Approximately... fuck-all" and showing the resulting calculation as zero.
- An otherwise unusual situation is described as "Cool and Normal".
- Referring to the Australian Government and its politicians' decisions as "shitfuckery".
- "What's that? [Sensible question or objection that you might raise]? Aw, sweetheart/sweetie/honey."
- Special Guest: Fellow Australian YouTubers Michael West and Friendlyjordies in "News Media Bargaining Code", and Greta Thunberg delivering the authorised-by message in "Net Zero by 2050".
- Toilet Paper Substitute: In "Flattening the Curve", viewers are advised that in case they run out of toilet paper, they should use newspapers produced by Rupert Murdoch (such as The Sun and The Australian) as substitute.
- Toxic, Inc.: How the ads portray gas companies, especially in relation to the environment.
