Aussie Tweeter @GovGoogles Wins #CoalIsAmazing With Running Commentary

ICYMI, the Minerals Council of Australia yesterday released a pro-coal ad that looked like whoever made it spent more time on their morning dump than they did thinking about its contents.

In a moment of sheer near-sightedness, it even had its own hashtag: #coalisamazing. You know where hashtags are used a lot? Twitter. You know who’s on Twitter? Environmentally conscious folk who don’t take kindly to propaganda bullshit. (Also see: the #twitterati, inner-city latte sippers.)

They tore it to shreds:

Industry guy: “How do we make people think coal is amazing?”

Intern 1: “We need a virual video!”

Intern 2: “And a hastag!”

#coalisamazing

— Greg McNevin (@gmcnevin) September 6, 2015

Coal was merely “good for humanity”, and now it’s amazing?

#auspol
#coalisamazing pic.twitter.com/o4f9FT4Sqk

— Drowningbitbybit (@drowninbitbybit) September 7, 2015

The Coal Industry: bringing families together for centiries #coalisamazing pic.twitter.com/PmmNxwft0x

— Light on the Hill (@LegacyOfJack) September 6, 2015

But perhaps no one is doing finer work in sending up the hashtag than @GovGoogles, a parody Twitter account that posts the kinda things we can only assume get Googled by the members of the Aussie government during any given PR crisis.

Much like the boys in We Are Your Friends needing just one song to make it as a DJ, Tone & co. surely know the fastest way to solve the coal image problem is to find just one photo of the sedimentary rock doing something heartwarming and send it out into the world as a ‘told you so’ – something that @GovGoogles riffs on brilliantly.

Behold a portion of the account’s running commentary which, last we checked, is still going:

photo of piece of coal working in homeless shelter

— AusGov Googles (@GovGoogles) September 7, 2015

photo of piece of coal help old lady cross road

— AusGov Googles (@GovGoogles) September 7, 2015

photo of piece of coal stopping the boats

— AusGov Googles (@GovGoogles) September 7, 2015

can give piece of coal knighthood

— AusGov Googles (@GovGoogles) September 7, 2015

can piece of coal run in canning election

— AusGov Googles (@GovGoogles) September 7, 2015

photo of australian piece of coal check papers of imported piece of coal

— AusGov Googles (@GovGoogles) September 7, 2015

photo of piece of coal fighting isis

— AusGov Googles (@GovGoogles) September 7, 2015

does marriage equality include piece of coal

— AusGov Googles (@GovGoogles) September 7, 2015

Jess Wheeler, creator of @GovGoogles, told P.TV he couldn’t be more delighted with the response to #CoalIsAmazing.

“From an advertising/communications point of view: hashtags have been blowing up in the faces of companies and politicians for years now, and still no one learns. From a comedic/satirical point of view: I think the campaign is brilliantly terrible. It’s almost a piece of satire in itself. When I started @GovGoogles, I wondered whether there would be enough constant material to keep it going. With gems like #coalisamazing, I don’t think there is any danger of that.”

If you wanna know *just* how amazing coal is, you can find out right here: