It's hiring time for fresh graduates and the Australian Department of Finance is not alone in trying to bring in a new crowd.
But their method has turned out to be a fizzer, drawing more ridicule than recruitments.
A bizarre ad by the central government agency, dubbed 'The Game Changers' cost AU$4000 ($4285) to make, a spokesperson told The Australian.
It features wooden actors - reportedly department employees - delivering equally clunky lines, with one announcing to her colleagues: "Hey guys! I'm just heading downstairs for my paleo pear-and-banana bread - would you like to join me?"
"No thanks, it's a little bit fancy for me," another responds with a laugh. "I'm actually off to an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff network meeting."
That particular line was adlibbed, according to Deputy Secretary David Fredericks.
"It was actually made at the request of the graduate," he said.
"And it was basically accepted because, we took the view... that we are probably not the best people to understand how best to communicate to a young generation of graduates."
The ad also features an employee who's an enthusiastic member of the "buddy programme", greeting his colleague with: "Hey buddy!"
"Sorry, I gotta do that every time, it's because we're in the buddy programme," he explains to the bemused woman.
The ad is so bad it's even being ribbed by officials.
New South Wales Senator Sam Dastyari tweeted a question to the Minister of Finance, asking: "... can the minister advise: (a) Is paleo pear and banana bread available at the Department of Finance at One Canberra Aveneue and (b) If so, can a recipe be provided".
Fellow Senator James Patterson was also unimpressed by the video.
"It seems a bit trivial for a serious agency of government like Finance to be joking about paleo pears and banana bread," he said, at a hearing of department matters.
The ad was developed with creative agency Together Creative, which claims to develop "head-turning campaigns".
It's certainly drawn attention - but perhaps not the kind the government department was hoping for.
Newshub.
