Those of you in Victoria watching last night’s finale of The Bachelor may have noticed something rather curious in between segments of Locky sobbing like a fountain: A rather haphazardly constructed anti-curfew ad going at Victorian Premier Dan Andrews.
The ads ran during at least two ad breaks, and were pushing a fairly curious “#PanDan” message, encouraging people in Victoria to go outside at exactly 8:59pm and bang a pan. The idea there, I guess, is to create a collective noise so loud that Andrews can hear all the way in wherever he was at that specific moment.
Notably, timing the ads to air during The Bachelor finale specifically means the ad space likely cost an absolute packet. The finale is one of Ten’s highest-rating programs of the year, and advertising prices are generally adjusted to reflect the increased viewership. According to TV Tonight, the Final Decision portion of the finale, during which the ads were aired, drew in 879,000 viewers across the 5 metro city markets in Australia. In Metro Melbourne specifically, 338,000 viewers were tuned in.
Promoted by a group called “Concerned Citizens of Victoria” and authorised by a “P. Banks,” the blatant attack ads seemed deeply out of place for a Bachelor finale, and would probably stand as odd even during an election campaign.
The full transcript of the ad went thusly:
“Dan, lend us an ear. Be heard Melbourne. At 8:59pm, open your door, grab a pan, and pan Dan. #FREEMELBOURE. STOP THE CURFEW NOW. Let’s hope the man who has presided over 90% of the nation’s COVID deaths and massive unemployment hears you. Written and supported by concerned citizens of Victoria. Authorised by P. Banks Melbourne.”
Interestingly enough, Sky News Australia covered the ad campaign at virtually the exact same time as the ads began running, with on-air host Peta Credlin giving the campaign air time during her nightly Credlin program.
So who are “Concerned Citizens of Victoria”? And who is “P. Banks” exactly? As with all things politically motivated, it’s important to understand where it’s coming from.
For starters, Concerned Citizens of Victoria appears to be, for all intents and purposes, an organisation with just the one member.
The “group” does have a webpage set up, but it appears to have been created specifically for this campaign. A cursory search reveals that there is (or at least appears to be) no social media presence under that name.
Curiously though that website does list a contact email for P. Banks – pbanks@regionalreach.com – who is revealed to be Paul Banks, director and owner of Regional Reach Advertising.
That company (and Banks himself, presumably) is based out of Bendigo and Sutton Grange in rural Victoria. The company also has a PO Box in Strathfieldsaye listed, which itself is located within the Greater Bendigo region. Those areas are very much not in the Metropolitan Melbourne region, and as such are not currently subject to any formal curfew.
Regional Reach’s Bendigo office is also of particular note. The company’s website shows off office spaces located within the historic Fortuna Villa heritage estate. Funnily enough, Paul Banks purchased that property in 2013 for a fairly hefty $2.21 million. In 2015, Banks sold a seven-acre site overlooking the historic estate to a Bendigo-based consortium for an undisclosed sum. Four former Army buildings on the site were subsequently demolished, and construction on a 79-villa housing development began in September of last year.
This particular story isn’t the first time Banks has made the news in 2020 either. In April, Racing Victoria stewards levelled five charges against Banks related to alleged prohibited substances found in samples taken from racehorses that Banks had trained.
Per Banks’ own publicly accessible Facebook page, he has frequently posted in support of the Federal and State Liberal Party, and even in support of US President Donald Trump.
So that’s who was behind the ads last night, in case you were wondering.
For what it’s worth, the 8:59pm call to action also happened to be the exact – and I do mean exact – moment that Locky began professing his love for Irena on The Bachelor. Which is probably the one and only moment that people in Melbourne actually wanted to be inside.
I can’t personally speak to the broader impact that incredible piece of poor timing may have had on the push to get people banging pans. That said, you’d assume the majority of Melbourne pots remain undinged as of this morning.
Now, exactly why Ten saw fit to run that ad at all remains another story entirely.
