Culture

The Government, Brands And Media Who Went Way Over The Top With Back To The Future Day

At its best, today's been a bunch of fun for superfans, and stimulus for thought on societal progress. At its worst, it's been an unholy vortex of dank dad content. Here are the worst offenders.

by Meg Watson  21 October 2015

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At some point in the past 20 years, there’s been a devastating rip in the space-time continuum and we’ve found ourselves in an entirely different 2015 from the one in the second Back To The Future film. At this point in the day — October 21: the date Doc and Marty first traveled to the future — that should come as no surprise.

ABC have already noted this is a reality without hoverboards; The Herald Sun concluded it’s a place where no one wears two ties; Gizmodo attested to the fact there are no flying cars; The Guardian pointed out there are no automated dog walkers; and BBC expressed disappointment at the serious lack of pizza hydration.

But, what present-2015 lacks in snazzy fashion and life-changing technological innovation, we seem to make up for in relentless and unavoidable commentary about Back To The Future. 

…Here’s one we prepared earlier:

Back to The Future vs The Reality of 2015.

Posted by Junkee on Sunday, 18 October 2015

With the date literally being a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this kind of collective self-reflection and celebration, everyone with access to an internet connection and a basic working knowledge of pop culture has been eager to get in on the action — and that’s not necessarily a bad thing!

At its best, today’s been a bunch of fun for superfans and a stimulus for thought on societal progress and innovation. At its worst, it’s been an unholy vortex of dank dad content the magnitude of which we’ve never quite seen before.

Here’s a little walk through the latter:

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NSW Premier Mike Baird 

Earlier this month Mike Baird announced sweeping changes to the state’s laws on terrorism which would allow for suspects to be held 28 days without charge (rather than the current 14). The laws would also see children as young as 14 be detained upon suspicion; changes which have some legal experts worried.

Today, he gained hundreds of thousands of fans for being in a DeLorean.

Back To The FutureGreat Scott!! Turns out we still need roads… Happy Back To The Future Day!

Posted by Mike Baird on Tuesday, 20 October 2015

Politics!

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SA Police 

Great Scott! This fun-lovin’ post about hoverboards and Griff’s fictional gang came just a few minutes before another about a very real armed robbery at a service station.

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Queensland Police

Going in a similar direction, Queensland Police crafted a full media release about an incident which happened to be packed with familiar references.

“This morning police officers from the Mount Isa Hoverboard Unit were called to attend a traffic crash on Rodeo Drive,” it read. “A silver sedan had crashed into a power pole near the cinema. When questioned what speed he was doing, the driver stated that he was doing 88 miles per hour. A 17-year-old man was charged and was in possession of a licence which expired over 30 years ago. Investigations into the vehicle and what a flux capacitor is, are ongoing.”

This magnificently awkward photo won them more than 40,00 Likes and 10,000 shares:

Others were less entertained:

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NSW Police v Tasmania Police 

With a decisively somber tone, NSW Police tied Back To The Future into an important campaign to reduce the road toll.

“Back in 1985, 24 percent of people killed on the road were in alcohol-related crashes,” they wrote on Facebook. “With the help of random breath testing we’ve now got this figure down to around 16 percent … Let’s not go back. Think about YOUR future.”

Tasmania followed the statement “excessive speed is a major factor in serious and fatal crashes” with the hashtag “#whereisourhoverboard”.

It was not quite as powerful.

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Victoria Police

OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT’S LOVE FOR BACK TO THE FUTURE CAN NOT BE TAMED.

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Pepsi

As one of the lucky brands to actually be included in the movie, Pepsi have been enjoying a long run of easy marketing material in the lead up to today. Unfortunately, their fun novelty product “Pepsi Perfect” is costing fans $20 a can and their ad, which has been widely shared today, is an unnerving saccharine hellscape that makes me want to steer clear of them forever.

“PEPSI, PLEASE BRING ME THE SWEET RELIEF OF DEATH”

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Toyota

Though their recent clip of Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd chatting about the film was a little awkward, Toyota have teamed up with the Back To The Future stars for a great reason: to launch a new hydrogen-powered sedan that runs on fuel generated by garbage.

This is something I’m all for. It makes sense with the film! It’s good for the environment! It’s a win-win! But with relentless ads like this, it was also really, really painful:

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Veronica & Lewis

After doing so well with Shaun Micallef last week, the triple j drive duo’s clip this afternoon fell a little flat; it’s all downhill from the mention of the word “hobbacraft”.

The future is not looking bright for Lewis Hobba! #BackToTheFutureDay

Posted by Veronica & Lewis on Tuesday, 20 October 2015

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Fitzy & Wippa

Nooooooooooooope. Just stop it.

The hover board wasn’t invented by ‘Back To The Future Day’ but we’ve made something even better…

Posted by Fitzy & Wippa on Tuesday, 20 October 2015

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Sky News

In what’s probably the most lovable story of the whole day, some adorably dorky researchers from the Australian National University unveiled their own “hoverboard” made with leafblowers, plywood and a deck chair.

They modeled it like this and it was perfection:

To get in on the #trending #action, Sky News sent their own reporter David Lipson to test the creation.

It was not quite as good:

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I’d say at least it’s all over, but that’s not entirely true. Awkward politicians, desperate brands, and hopelessly dorky media are only just waking up in the US.

God speed.

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