If you’re using a dating app, chances are you’re not expecting to be interrupted by a political party urging you to vote for them – but it’s 2016 and here we are. A creative strategy from the Greens has seen the party install pop-ups into the feeds of Grindr users in the Melbourne seats of Batman and Higgins.
Greens representative Alex Bhathal has gone in on Labour MP, David Feeney, in the message delivered to Grinder users. The ad reads as follows: “Don't get screwed! Labor's MP for Batman David Feeney has never voted in support of marriage equality. This election - vote for your rights. Vote 1 Greens".
Senator Penny Wong went into bat for Feeney and the Labour party, shooting off a tweet that admonishes the Greens’ “dirty tricks” and adding Feeney is actually “a strong ally on marriage equality.”
They Vote For You, a website designed to tally politicians’ votes on certain manners, shows Feeney has apparently voted against motions in favour of marriage equality eight times. Feeney denies this however, telling The Australian he's supported marriage equality since 2011.
The Greens have apparently been sliding in your DMs on Grindr since 2014, with Sam Hibbins using the app to invite voters to his election events. Knowing that the Greens won the Melbourne seat of Prahran, we might just be seeing the future of political campaigns. Next up, we can only assume we’ll catch Trill Shorten out watering his garden and smothering himself in cocoa butter on the Snap too.
