Tony Rogers and creative collective encourage you to ‘Groom-A-Boomer’ for the YES campaign

A collaboration of creative minds from across the country have today launched an independent, self-funded campaign in support of the ‘Yes’ campaign, urging younger Australians to speak with those in their families who belong to the so-called Boomer generation.

Recent research shows that around three out of four ‘Boomers’ (those born between 1946 and 1964) are preparing to vote ‘No’ in the upcoming Voice referendum, while their children and grandchildren are far more likely to vote ‘Yes’.

The campaign aptly titled ‘Groom-a-Boomer’, features some colourful Australian comedic actors, and is a stark contrast to much of the negative, politically-driven debate over the vote, which has caused division even among family households and pleads with older Australians to think of what future generations may want our nation to look like.

Directed by Tony Rogers, the campaign aims to take some of the tension out of the debate to show people it’s ok to talk about what they may be worried to say even to their own families on either sides of the vote.

“Only 25 percent of Aussies aged over 55 are expected to vote ‘Yes’ for the Voice. If we can change the minds of the baby boomers, we can make a big difference to the outcome. Those boomers might not listen to big campaigns, but perhaps they will listen to their children,” said Rogers.

‘Groom-a-Boomer’ – independent of the official ‘Yes’ campaign – is the brainchild of a collection of Western Australian creatives including Richard Berney and John Linton from Berlin, Kevin Wilson and Leigh Wood from Nani Creative and Davood Tabeshfar.

Linton, Berlin’s Managing Partner, Strategy said that the campaign approach was actually born from his own experiences with his Dad.

“Dad and I have some fundamental disagreements about the referendum, but we started to find some common ground when I talked in terms of how much a YES meant to me and the future I wanted his grandchildren to grow up in. He acknowledged (with his typical dark humour) that he’d be ‘dead soon anyway’ and he hoped that I got the result and the world I was looking for.” Linton said.

Comedy has always been a great vehicle to break down barriers in Australia, and we have a reputation for turning to a good laugh even in the darkest times.

Berney, Berlin’s Executive Creative Director, said the agency wanted to contribute to the campaign in a way that broke down the stigma of being able to have an open conversation around the dinner table about different generational views.

‘Whether you’re a YES or a NO, we just want to encourage people to talk more. This topic’s gotten too hot to touch, and it is such an interesting and important moment for us! So we thought we better have a laugh, release some tension, and then people might be Able to relax and have a proper yarn.’ Berney said.

If you want to support the campaign, jump on to the campaign’s socials and share your own cracker convo starters. We want to make this the longest living list of ways ‘kids’ have ‘the chat’ with their boomer parents.

You can find Groom-a-Boomer on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter.

Credits
Creative Director: Richard Berney (Berlin)
Creatives: Davood Tabeshfar, Kevin Wilson and Leigh Wood (Nani Creative)
Strategy Director: John Linton (Berlin)
PR: Shaun Devitt
Social Strategy: Alex Paioff (MITP)
Production
Director – Tony Rogers
Cinematographer – Jesse Gohier-Fleet
Camera Assistant – Jules
Sound Recordist – Ahmad Sayed
Art Department – Rob Draper
Production – Rory Fleming
Editor and Post Production – Richard Berney (Berlin)
Special thanks to Tim Parrington
Actors: Beau Stegman, Wendy Little, Tim Mager, Alicia Jeffries, John Edwards, Faye Callaghan and Udara David