Council hopefuls find creative campaign strategies
Want to get noticed by voters? How about a caterpillar suit or a picture with Captain Hamilton?
Council candidates are seeking new ways to get noticed, from “silly” campaigns to clean graffiti to iconic endorsements.
As October’s local body elections approach, more and more candidates are bringing out innovative methods to make voters remember their names.
Hamilton East Ward candidate Ross MacLeod’s slogan is “silly campaign, serious candidate,” and his campaign includes zombies, making lemonade when council gives you lemons, and dressing as a giant caterpillar.
“A lot of campaigning is about getting your name out there,” said MacLeod of his costumed outing to Hamilton’s Sunday Farmers’ Market.
“I don’t have money for billboards but I do have a spare giant caterpillar suit.”
He says the stunt is an example of creative use of existing resources – something he wants to bring to council.
And MacLeod’s campaign has a serious side, as the slogan indicates, just as his website has ‘But, Seriously’ and ‘Policy’ sections.
Meanwhile, West Ward candidate Nick Ravlich, 29, has found himself another alternative to billboards in “reverse graffiti.”
Ravlich said a small budget forced him to get creative, and this method showed what he stood for.
“Armed with a water blaster, plastic stencil and good old Kiwi ingenuity I took to the streets and conducted a reverse graffiti attack on the city; water blasting ‘Vote Nick Ravlich to Clean up our City’ on over 50 grubby pavements throughout Hamilton.”
However, the method was not popular with the Hamilton City Council, which told the Waikato Times it constituted Willful Damage – Graffiti and was not in the areas specified for election advertising.
But Ravlich also has more traditional hoardings, and has visited iconic Hamilton statues with them.
His facebook page shows Hamilton’s farming family and Captain Hamilton wearing ‘Vote Nick Ravlich’ signs, and in one post Ravlich claims he has Hamilton’s backing.
“Spoke to Mr Hamilton tonight, sounds like I got his vote he said the City needs some younger working class blood in council.”
And East Ward candidate Peter Humphreys is avoiding pumping policy through facebook and instead telling voters more about himself.
The ‘Who Is Peter Humphreys?’ posts cover many aspects of his life, including meeting his true love, coming to New Zealand, raising a daughter with disabilities, and working as a volunteer firefighter.
