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In the long history of gloriously cringeworthy workplace videos, this is one of the greatest

Work and fun were never meant to mix, but when they do, the results can be truly spectacular

In the long history of gloriously cringeworthy workplace videos, this is one of the greatest
01 March 2017

Harlem Shake videos five months after everyone had stopped finding them entertaining. Anyone doing the Mannequin Challenge now. The many thousands of lip-sync videos to Call Me Maybe that still lurk in a dark corner of YouTube. That video of Bill Gates launching Windows 95.

Work and fun were never meant to mix, but when they do, the results can be truly spectacular.

The awful, so-cringeworthy-you-want-to-scoop-out-your-own-eyeballs ‘wacky’ workplace/recruitment/let’s get down with the kids video is one of the most glorious inventions of all time, and we love them and never want them to stop. Hey, you don’t need to be mad to work here, BUT IT HELPS! Yeah? Yeah?

 

Well, we have another absolute classic to add to the canon, and it comes courtesy of the fine people at the Federal Department of Finance in Canberra, who are in the midst of a $40,000 marketing campaign, including this piece of cinematic magic.

"I'm so stoked for our presentation to the executives this afternoon" says one worker to open up proceedings, and the rollercoaster action does not let up from there. Feast your eyes and ears on this:

THE BEST BITS

Worker 1: "Hey guys, I'm just heading downstairs for my paleo pear and banana bread. Would you like to join me?"

Worker 2: "No thanks, it's a little bit fancy for me. I'm actually off to an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff network meeting."

 

Worker 3: "Hey, this year's grads are real game-changers. I've heard some fantastic reports about their work."

Worker 4: "They've certainly hit the ground running. Or actually, I should say sprinting,"

 

Two graduates meet each other in the corridor

"Hey buddy! Sorry, I've got to do that every time - it's because we're in the buddy program!"

 

"It's truly terrible," said Dee Madigan, creative director of the Labor-linked agency Campaign Edge. "I always say real people are terrible at playing real people. No one will watch that to the end. It's probably one of the worst recruitment videos I've ever seen.

"This idea that you have to show the target market to appeal to them is incorrect. Having people in situ having fake conversations has very little cut through. If you actually need real people in an ad, you cast actors. The execution is atrocious. The only thing worse than the execution are the performances. Any department that approved that ad, you just wouldn't want to work for. They should be asking for their money back."

What are you talking about Dee? It’s clearly magnificent and they should be offering to pay the makers more money for this piece of web gold.

Correct ‘a hotsxcasian’. Correct.