Worst West Wing episode ever: Make accounting great again
If the world remembers this week for anything, it will be – Dr Mumbo predicts – remembered as the week the world finally recognised accountants as fun-loving party animals.
To kick off the week, we had the Oscars blunder, in which it emerged that the auditor was so distracted by Tweeting backstage that he gave poor old Warren Beatty the wrong envelope to read out.
But that’s nothing compared to a recruitment ad shot for the Australian government’s Department of Finance.
Unearthed by The Sydney Morning Herald, which reports that it was shot by Together Creative at a cost of $37,400, Dr Mumbo urges giving every moment of the three minutes, 11 seconds video a watch.
“The Game Changers” features the staff of the Department of Finance playing themselves. Here it is…
And it’s crying out for a shot-by-shot analysis.
0:05: We open with a drone shot, suggesting we’re about to get some sumptuous production values.
Welcome to the finance funhouse
We do not. The drone shot reveals a bland, empty office complex.
0:12 Here comes the talent. And what talent…
“I’m so stoked for our presentation to the executives this afternoon. It’s been a massive challenge but I’m definitely looking forward to it,” says a young man in a business shirt wearing a giant security pass around his neck as a way of demonstrating just what a fun environment he’s in. Sadly, we’ll never get to find out his name. So he’ll have to remain simply as ‘shirt guy’.
His older female colleague, also wearing a giant security pass, gazes adoringly at him, while he looks over her shoulder
Nothing says fun quite like a security lanyard
0:22 Here comes Claire the rebel, wearing her security badge on her belt. No lanyard for her.
She’s one of those hateful foodies who probably Instagrams her coffee. “Hey guys. I’m just healing downstairs for my paleo pear and banana bread. Would you like to join me?”
No. No, they would not.
0:23 “No thanks. It’s a little bit fancy for me,” her fun-loving female colleague remonstrates.
You can stick your pear bread up your abacus
And besides, she’s got some virtue-signalling to do. “I’m actually off to an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders staff network meeting.”
0:30 Meanwhile, in a major plot twist, our young male hero does seem to be in the market for a little banana bread action after all. Off they trot. Little does he know that Claire’s about to take credit for their presentation.
Modernisation – what better topic to chat about on the stairs?
Like the dynamic young accountants they are, they take the stairs – no lazy lift-riding for them.
0:35 But if there’s something that accountants can’t get enough of, it’s exposition through dialogue.
Walking and talking like Aaron Sorkin characters in the worst episode of The West Wing of all time, they go banana bread hunting.
“So how are you finding the program?”
Revealing just how little imagination she has, she reveals: “It’s pretty great to be honest. I’ve been here less than a year and I never thought that I’d be working on a project supporting the modernisation program across government.”
So what did she think she’d be doing?
Keep walking, shirt guy
0:40 “Awesome. I’m working on a project in property and construction,” he reveals. Not that she asked.
“Hey. Are you going to the young leaders network dinner tonight?”
… just keep walking…
Hey. Of course she is, you dummy.
“I wouldn’t miss it. The last one was great,” she informs him with a level of sincerity usually reserved for hostage videos.
0:52 Look out – here comes boss David. Of course, he’s wearing a lanyard too. Don’t tell him you’re slacking off to get banana bread.
But he only wants to say hello to Claire anyway. Shirt guy may as well be invisible.
David only wants to talk to Claire
0:59 Well this is getting weird. Bossman David is all over Claire, telling her how much he’s looking forward to her great presentation. Yet one floor ago, she and shirt guy were doing it together. What gives, Claire?
Claire flicks her hair, smiles smugly and moves on.
Shirt guy knows he’s being sidelined
1:01. In a Tarantino-esque switch of character POV, we’re with David now, who appears to have brought a spare coffee with him on the off-chance he bumped into Rina. And Rina’s so important she, shockingly, is not wearing a security pass.
Coffee for Rina
Now it’s David’s turn for some vigorous exposition-through-dialogue…
“This year’s grads are real game changers,” he reveals, apropos of nothing. “I’ve heard some fantastic reports about their work.”
1:06 Rina, meanwhile, is about to make a funny…
“They certainly have hit the ground running. Well actually, I should say sprinting.”
Sprinting, you see. Because sprinting is even better than running…
1:16 Claire and her anonymous colleague have made it to the coffee shop and joined a couple more fellow workers. Does nobody do any work in this place?
They appear to be sharing one slice of paleo banana bread between the four of them. It’s out of Claire’s reach. Somebody will pay for that later.
Somebody will pay for denying Claire banana bread. Shirt guy knows it will be him
1:20 Look! There goes Eddie. Claire says hello. Eddie wants nothing to do with her and keeps walking. There’s more exposition by dialogue to be done and stairs to be climbed.
1:23 “I feel really good about my part of the presentation,” Eddie volunteers to his colleague, as they stop for a rest after climbing about six stairs.
1:30 But beware – things are about to get cornier…
“Hey buddy…” chortles a worker, his lanyard bouncing jauntily.
Meet the office jester
He’s chortling because he makes the same joke at this time every single day. “Sorry I’ve got to do that every time. It’s because we’re in the buddy program,” he explains to his young colleague, who he appears to be under the impression is a bit slow on the uptake.
She looks at him with barely concealed hatred, as her own Personal Groundhog Day continues to unfold.
Kill the office jester
1:52 Look! It’s Teena. She’s got coffee too. Because drinking coffee is all they do.
Coffee for Teena
2:01 Teena’s here to interfere with Dane’s mentoring of Jenna, whoever she is.
In a weird breach of good HR practice, Teena wants to talk about Jenna’s future, without Jenna present, and in front of a random member of staff.
Looks like Jenna’s joining the “budget surge” team, whether she likes it or not. Dr Mumbo assumes ambitious Claire will be gutted not to have got that gig.
Pretend the woman in the middle isn’t there
2:13 Dane gives Jenna the bad news. Jenna pretends to be pleased.
Jenna takes the news unemotionally
2:22 It’s the climax of the film. Presentation time.
Boss Rosemary gives the staff a speech. She appears to be reading it from her tablet. The colleague sitting next to her appears to be dying inside.
In Canberra everybody dies a little every day
Without even seeing the presentation, Rosemary declares that it’s a game changer.
And with that, the worst recruitment ad of all time comes to an end.
Accountants will never again see a week like this.
I have not laughed that hard in a very long time!
The video was gold, but that breakdown was even funnier, if possible.
That’s not acting; it’s fly on the wall in Canberra.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_wLqHYflxA
The ‘paleo-pear-and-banana bread’ gag was good, not the non-actor’s fault she couldn’t deliver it.
Big question is how did that come in under $4000?
The Finance Dept’s budget should be severely cut for producing this bunch of pretentious wank. Government is to govern not self-promote. What next, Dept of Correctional Services doing a recruiting video for prisoners?
Jesus!
I don’t know if I should or cry!
There’s nothing wrong with this video. It will win awards.
You dummies are going to feel pretty dumb when you realize that there is more to the running-sprinting gag than you thought.
You see it’s a play on words that agile practitioners will get, and if these millennial accountants are anything these days it’s agile. It works on multiple levels, and demonstrates how innovative and modern their working style is. Which, coincidentally is what young people LOVE. They can not get enough innovation.
“Sprinting is better than running”… you bunch of sillies.
In the middle of that cringeiness was a decent ad trying to escape.
I helped it escape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_RnA5Dk2ZE
Under $40 000. Four thousand was just the lanyard budget.
…that’s 3:09 of my life I’ll never get back…yawn…⚜
I am pretty sure thats where stoner sloth works now.
“The ‘paleo-pear-and-banana bread’ gag was good”. Was it?
“Big question is how did that come in under $4000?”. It didn’t.
Apparently she improvised the line!
Hmm….it’s had acres of media coverage…https://goo.gl/XJQfjC…so maybe they were on to something after all…
I absolutely agree. It has everyone talking – it’s inclusive, and I bet all the staff in the video are loving the national attention they are getting. The fact that it’s gone viral, makes their uncool acting, very cool!
Everyone now knows all the things they are up to, which was the purpose of this ad.
Brilliant!!!
great edit – but you’ve cut the fun out of it. Now it’s just beige!!! And for that reason, it’s not a good ad.
I thought that was the best line of ‘ad’ until “Hey buddy..”
Defining awkward. Great write up Dr M.
Looks like part of an episode of ABC TV’s “Utopia” program. Is the Department trying to promote their staff for a gig with “Utopia” ?
Up a decimal point, almost $40K. So much sumptuousness.
And yeah, it’s one long cringe. Can’t imagine what kind of person such a ghastly video might recruit.
Priceless commentary. Thank you for the best laugh of the week!
Youve made it shorter and even more boring??
Dr Mumbo you’ve outdone yourself, funny AF!
Latitude Financial should use this. The logo is close to GE’s as well.
Agree. It should be seen as a huge success. The name of the department is out there which will help consideration.
Nice work Steve. I admire the fact that rather than laughing like everyone else here, you made an effort to fix it.
I’ve seen vids featuring a mustachioed pool cleaner and a cheerleader that have better performances than this.
This isn’t about self promotion, it is about trying to get the best graduates they can. Terrible execution though.
The best part about this is that Finance will be mortified that there has been such international discussion and ridicule about their organisation. Perhaps it might make them get back to worrying about our burgeoning national debt instead of how to be cool.
Imagine if you will if you were running or working for a satirical magazine charged with ‘sending this department up’? Surely all you could do would be to reproduce it in full. groan
Great edit. Thank you.
https://youtu.be/opRLZz4ooH8
My first impression was ‘Utopia’ too.
“…with a level of sincerity usually reserved for hostage videos..”
A truly brilliant and hilarious line!!
Well done!!!
Members of the public service’s grad program are not even slightly smug or arrogant nor do they feel or act superior, so they need an ad to tell them how great they are. It says a lot about the public service that a bunch of new grads with no work or life experience are hailed as “game changers”
Made the mistake of trying to drink something while reading this!!
Anyway, for anyone thinking that was funny, think about this:
We were paying for this!
I thought it was excellent. A refreshing change from polished spin. And fun.
While it might well be cringeworthy to watch, these guys are all legends back in their office. First hand feedback I’ve been told. We can criticise all we want, but we all understand what they’re trying to say because we live in offices that talk in this manner with our own little buzzwords and detached bullshit that the rest of the world doesn’t understand. Sure, they’re not great actors, but they’re not meant to be. They’re authentic and despite it’s severe lack of polish, it’s worked because we’re all talking about it. I’m sure these guys are taking it in the chin and having a laugh too.
Lighten up mate, its 4k
Whats the big deal? It’s like nobody has ever seen a corporate video before
Yes, the performances were terrible and the concept was probably approved by a Central Committee whose members were so bored that they relished the opportunity to be part of something ‘creative”. But is it so much worse than the usual ‘since the dawn of time’ rubbish that passes for corporate creative every day? As for the budget and who paid for it, taxpayers have paid loads more for government ads that have achieved nothing, some of them produced by the same people laughing at this one.
I’m curious. What does the graduate program at Mumbrella look like?
There’s more to applying for a position than looking at a crappy video.
Pretty much the same, Paul. We have a lot of networking meetings, drink a lot of coffee and consume our own weight in paleo pear bread.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
I reckon let the Working Dog team have a go at doing the campaign…they would nail it hella funny
You pricks ever tried acting? It’s so unbelievably awkward. These people are all heroes for having a go, and one or 2 almost pulled it off.