A group of scrappy video makers from across the country have found an edgy way to get apathetic Gen Ys to pay attention to politics: A YouTube video that riffs on the dating scene.
"Do you know the pick-up line that goes over the best with Canadian women?" asks a sultry brunette in an ironic T-shirt.
A young man smirks before giving the answer: "I'm not Stephen Harper."
"It's like the most beautiful poem," another sultry brunette swoons.
Watch the video here
Released Wednesday, the viral video is the latest missive from ShitHarperDid.com, a stealth campaign that's been spreading like prairie wildfire.
The brash website racked up 33,500 "likes" on Facebook in just over a week, and more than 14,000 views for companion videos such as Yoko VS Harper, in which DJs express outrage over Mr. Harper's recent singing efforts.
Regardless of one's political leanings, the videos are prototypes for how to reach "the two-thirds of people under 35 who don't even pay attention to the news," one of the video producers, Sean Devlin, 27, told The Globe and Mail. Here's a how-to list:
- Include a curse in your URL (ShitHarperDid.com)
- Make videos snappy (70 seconds or less)
- Feature urban hipsters (possibly vegan?) wearing muted tones, minimal makeup and librarian-chic eyewear
- Have said hipsters finish each other's sentences, mash-up style, while building up to the video's end goal: a litany of Mr. Harper's slights to women's organizations, according to the video makers.
- Throw in a budding intellectual (in this case, Vancouver Special author and comedian Charles Demers)
Facebookers have been quick to weigh in.
Jonny Grayston told critics to "make your own videos and start your own massively successful internet campaign."
Others offered fashion advice. "I like the video but seriously, hipsters … run a comb through your hair," wrote Mark Johnston. "Combed hair adds legitimacy."
What do you think of the video? Will social media strategies like this influence Gen Y to get out and vote?