Another day, another tourism advertisement proving that those trying to market Sydney to the world are hopelessly, irretrievably out of touch.
You’ll recall back in December when the NSW Government created that abominable video about Sydney’s “cool” nightlife, and now a brand new pop song called ‘Sydney To Me’ has been released as part of a new tourism campaign.
This latest ‘song’ was born out of a partnership with Destination NSW and Sony, with former X-Factor discoveries Jess And Matt premiering their new song at the Sydney Opera House on Australia Day. In a press release, Destination NSW has already compared the song to Alicia Key’s iconic tribute to New York ‘Empire State Of Mind.’
Let’s start with the shockingly insular, cringeworthy, one-dimensional view of Sydney that we see in the video clip, which mostly cuts shots of Jess and Matt singing with panoramic panning shots of the city. If you’re to believe the creators of the video, there’s really not much more to Sydney than beaches, city landmarks and the harbour, and that our city is full of hipsters who on any given day can be found running fully clothed into the surf at Bondi.
Pictured: Your average Sydneysider.
The overly synthetic, instrument-free song itself is hardly a redeeming factor either, but makes sense in the context of a video that celebrates a city where burgeoning musicians struggle to earn a buck let along rent out a studio. Additionally, lyrics like “holdin’ onto you, nothing we can do” is a weirdly accurate celebration of what the options are for anyone hoping to find a venue open in Sydney late at night.
It’s also unfathomable that the creators were unable to see the irony of showing only a few brief seconds of Sydney Festival at The Domain as the full extent of Sydney’s current lockout-choked nightlife, and in those few seconds decided to include a shot that prominently featured the logo for The Star casino.
At this point, Jess and Matt clearly decided that the video was so ridiculous that they may as well take the piss and including lyrics about “dance(ing) to music all night” while The Star’s logo is clearly in view.
In fairness, the clip actually shows some lovely footage of Sydney’s west. The far, far west in fact… well, the Blue Mountains, which apparently represent what Sydney means to the apparently geographically challenged artists.
Predictably, there have already been plenty of ripping comments by punters on the video so far, and while many have been supportive of the way Sydney is portrayed – others have pointed out a variety of issues they’ve got with the clip. Check out the video in full, along with some of the more strongly worded and funny comments below.
Watch: Jess & Matt – ‘Sydney To Me’
