The Hard Sell

In The Hard Sell, creative director Dee Madigan uses her trademark humour and down-to-earth approach to unveil the world of political advertising. Drawing on real-life stories from her own recent Federal and State campaigns, she gives us fascinating industry insight into: • How political ads are designed to work; • Who are they designed to work on; • How we pay for them; • Why we make so many negative ads; • How personal is too personal; • How spin works, particularly in an election campaigns; • How to make messages cut through the cynicism; • How politicians use journos who use politicians who use journos; • The gendered nature of it all; • And finally, what happens when it all turns to sh*t! Dee is candid about the tricks of the trade and the lessons that can be learnt.