Farnham Voice ad a call to Boomer, Gen X nostalgia

“It’s a very emotive song for that target audience, so you’d probably give it a tick,” Mr Willee said.

“Good advertising, and good ad strategy comes from research, so understanding what the issues are for people and speaking to them. If you’re targeting 18-year-olds, or younger people or suburban inner-city types, I don’t think John Farnham appeals to that target audience.”

Stressing he was not arguing for either side of the Voice debate, Mr Willee said feel-good advertising had proven successful in previous political debates.

“John Farnham is an Australian icon. He is universally beloved,” Mr Willee said.

“The tactics combined are all absolutely there. The structure of it is bang on, the marketing science and the advertising case studies are bang on for sure.”

Adam Ferrier, consumer psychologist and co-founder of Thinkerbell agency, said the Yes campaign was “trying to find its middle Australia voice”.

“There’s been a lot of rhetoric from the elites, and captains of industry chiming in, so it’s wonderful to see that they’ve got a mainstream campaign under way,” he told The Australian Financial Review.

“Linking John Farnham to the Voice is a brilliant kick-start. It is mainstream populist, easy to remember.

“Doing it as a three-minute ad is a nice flagpole moment. However, I’d like to see the song being spread far and wide, across all different formats and in different lengths and different media.”

Mr Ferrier said advertising was unlikely to move all voters in the debate, adding: “Advertising is a pretty weak force.

“It is only going to affect those people whose views are not yet decided. If you’ve got a staunch view, one way or the other, any advertising campaign is not going to change your belief set.

“Ideally people will be bombarded with You’re The Voice for the next six weeks, across all media, and then hopefully it’ll change a few people’s minds.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese quoted lines of the song in question time on Monday, telling parliament Australians did not want to “sit in silence” or “live in fear”.

He ridiculed Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan for a second referendum if the Voice fails next month, saying the Coalition believed they knew better than Indigenous communities calling for a Voice.

“When you listen to people who are directly affected by an issue, you will of course get better outcomes,” Mr Albanese said.

Yes23 campaign director Dean Parkin said volunteers had doorknocked nearly 40,000 homes at the weekend. He said on-the-ground campaigning would help turn around the polls.

“We will leave no stone unturned,” he said. “We will be pounding the pavement, making sure that we are having conversations with as many people as we possibly can.”