Has Barnaby Joyce created the the year’s best viral video?

Social media marketing teams around the world will be wincing at the Australian Government’s coup. As as a result of US actor and model, Amber Heard, bringing her dogs ‘Pistol’ and ‘Boo’ into the country without the correct paperwork, ‘Barnyard’ was suddenly international news.

 

 

The Gold Coast Court, in conjunction with the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (ADAW), provided Heard with a suspended $1,000 fine after she provided the following apology alongside husband and occasional pirate, Johnny Depp.

 

 

The ‘official video – hosted on the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources YouTube page, had attracted over 500,000 views by 8.00am the morning after its release.

On top of that, Community Channel – one of Australia’s most popular YouTube channels – has received almost 200,000 views of its parody video (below).

 

 

internationally, the story has featured on homepage of CNN, BBC, The New York Times and, of course, The Huff Post and The Mail Online. While much of the reporting around the apology concerns the lack of enthusiasm displayed by Heard and Depp, their low-energy performance only adds to the ‘clickability’ of it all.

The Government, and in particular Barnaby Joyce must be thrilled. Depp has previously described the Nationals leader as, “a sweaty, big-gutted man,” that he would “fly to Australia and assault,” if Amber heard went to jail over the incident.

 

The Australian takes the mickey out of their acting performance

 

In the end, the former Acting Prime Minister was the winner. There’s nothing like getting a couple of A-listers in for free to spread the word of Australia’s tough quarantine laws.

Barnaby couldn’t have put it better this morning when appearing on ABC Radio’s AM. “It’s going off like a frog in a sock!”