For immediate release
Losing Your V Plates just got political
Students get fancy and encourage first-time voters to lose their V plates
Hamilton, September 8, 2014: A somewhat controversial campaign was launched 29 August to encourage first-time voters to vote in the upcoming general
election. The campaign, titled Lose Your V Plates uses sexual innuendo to resonate with youth voters and engage them in
the voting process.
Lose Your V Plates includes an extensive social media campaign with a parody of the popular Iggy Azalea song, “Fancy,”
as well as targeted memes and metaphorical video testimonials. Lose Your V Plates is also hosting a competition called
‘Tick Stick Snap’ to win an iPad Mini. The competition involves participants posting a selfie displaying their “Yes,
I’ve voted” sticker to Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag, #loseyourvplates.
Lose Your V Plates is created in response to what the Electoral Commission describe as a “particularly steep” decline in
voting, from 89% in 1981 to 69% in 2011. However, the 18-24 year old age group is showing record low engagement, with
less than 40% voting in the 2011 election.
Lose Your V Plates is an initiative designed and managed by a group of University of Waikato students in collaboration
with the Electoral commission to engage first-time voters in the upcoming general election.
-Ends-