In my book, religion, politics, and society were the three main topics to avoid in conversations. It became a general rule as many people tend to become overzealously passionate about it, making things awkward at the very least. It thus came to a point where I become indifferent regarding these three things.

I want to believe I am not alone here.

However, as time passed on, I discovered satire, which restored my interest in the matter. Coating these same three topics in a glaze of well-worded comedy has shown a different side of things, one that I would personally care about. This, in turn, shows just how powerful the medium can be in shaping our interests.

Australia had such a lousy year that the Juice Media came out with an “Honest Goverment Ad” for it

Image credits: The Juice Media

One of such satirical media outlets is the Juice Media, an Australian film and media company. They have recently come out with a video on the Quiet Australia Policy as part of their Honest Government Ad series on YouTube. And it’s making the rounds throughout the internet. Bored Panda reached out to Giordano Nanni, the creator and writer at the Juice Media, to elaborate on the Quiet Australia Policy video and the Honest Government Ad series.

Tired of the nonsense that the government coming out with, Nanni decided to satirize about it in the form of a fake government ad: “I was just so tired of the constant stream of [bull pies] coming out of our Government. I was really yearning for some truth and honesty. And I know that so many others feel the same way, too.” explained Nanni. “So, back in 2016—partly as a form of therapy, and partly as a [middle-finger] to our lying Government—my partner Lucy and I decided to make a fake Australian tourism ad. We made the video in one day: a simple montage of footage and voice-over. It had such a great response that we decided to make another. And then another. And before we knew, it we were producing a series of Honest Government Ads. Unfortunately, there’s no end to the material needed to make this series.”

Image credits: The Juice Media

Image credits: The Juice Media

Honest Government Ad is a series of videos that introduce serious and controversial topics in the form of an advertisement issued by the Australien (sic!) Government. The videos are presented in an overly positive tone that conveys big problems with an “everything is fine” mentality.

Unlike many other of their videos, which usually includes one topic and elaborates on it in-depth, Quiet Australia Policy tackles a number of topics, showcasing the many issues Australia had to face this year. The ad spins it as a “transition into authoritarianism”, reassuring viewers with its detailed transition plan.

The video critiques nearly everything that went wrong this past year in Australia

Image credits: The Juice Media

Image credits: The Juice Media

Satire is something the entire world enjoys, so we asked Nanni if there are any other satirists he draws inspiration from with the Honest Government Ad series: “Some of the political satire I’m really loving right now includes Michael Spicer’s Man Next Door, which has come out of the UK just in the past few months. I love it because it’s so original. With so much satire, we’re just seeing the same old tired gags and concepts recycled over and over. So it’s so cool to see something that hasn’t been done before, becoming an ongoing series.”

He continued: “In terms of more mainstream satirists, John Oliver’s Weekly Tonight is up there for me – although I rarely watch it! I don’t really draw inspiration from other political satirists as such, but they do encourage me to keep getting better at it so that we can be on top of our game.”

Image credits: The Juice Media

The upbeat tone does a good job conveying big problems with an “everything is fine” mentality

Image credits: The Juice Media

The video takes a jab at the government by covering its crackdown on the ATO whistleblower, AFP’s raiding of a journalist’s home, issues with corporate lobbying becoming a billion-dollar business, the mistreatment of elderly citizens, and disregard for field experts’ opinions regarding climate change. These are just some of the issues presented in the hilarious satirical treat that is the Quiet Australia Policy.

To top it all off, the ad is a bit heavy on the language, which, face it, we all love a good swear. Pair that up with the extremely upbeat tone of the video and you’re going to have a good time!

Image credits: The Juice Media

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Image credits: The Juice Media

Australia isn’t the only Juice Media’s target when it comes to satire as a number of other locations were covered on its Honest Government Ads, and more are to come. “We’ve covered Hawai’i, Puerto Rico, Timor-Leste, West Papua, and of course the United States in a number of our Honest Government Ads,” explained Nanni. “I would love to make a spin-off dedicated to other countries. If I had the resources, I’d establish a Juice Media bureau in the UK/Europe; another in North America to cover the USA and Canada, and another in South America. I would love to do this at some stage, but at the moment it’s more of a dream.”

The video tackles climate change, mistreatment of elderly, corporate lobbyism, and many other issues

Image credits: The Juice Media

Image credits: The Juice Media

Image credits: The Juice Media

Lastly, we’ve asked Giordano Nanni about future plans with the series. He had this to say: “My list of topics that I want to turn into Honest Government Ads is so long! But at the top of that list I have: China and Hong Kong—we have a special guest lined up to host this one already. Canada: in particular covering the resistance of the Wet’suet’en First Nations people against the Government’s new pipelines. The UK, Israel and Palestine, Brazil, Italy, and Norfolk Island. And here in Australia, I’d like to make some HGAs about the gambling industry, privatization, the revolving door that sees so many of our politicians taking up well-paid jobs with lobbying firms and the defense industry. [Bull pies] of the highest order.”

The team behind this has a long-running series of Honest Government Ads that cover a variety of topics

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Image credits: The Juice Media

Image credits: The Juice Media

Image credits: The Juice Media

At the moment, the most popular videos in the Honest Government Ad series are Visit Timor-Leste!, which discusses how Australia took advantage of gas and oil, Julian Assange, which covers the news that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been apprehended, and Visit Puerto Rico!, a video about how the United States is responsible for effectively strengthening the state of poverty in Puerto Rico. All in that overly happy tone!

The Juice Media is a film and media company from Australia founded in May of 2008 that makes thematic satirical political and social commentary videos. They are best known for their Honest Government Ads and their longest running video series, Juice Rap News.

The happy tone is paired up with heavy language, making an even bigger impact with its comedy

Image credits: The Juice Media

Image credits: The Juice Media

Image credits: The Juice Media

You can explore more of the Juice Media on their YouTube channel and by visiting their Facebook page.

What are some of your favorite satirical media outlets? Got any recommendations? Let us know in the comment section below.

Here is the full video of the Quiet Australia Policy Honest Government Ad

Video credits: The Juice Media

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