Queensland rockers DZ Deathrays have been at the receiving end of some harsh criticism from their fans following their involvement in a joint campaign with Powerball, BRING, and Spotify.
Created in partnership with Carat and The Story Lab, the campaign was launched last week when DZ Deathrays announced their search for Australia’s best “Powerballad”. Supported by a purposely-cheesy ’80s-inspired video, the new venture sees the band on the search for Australia’s favourite power ballad, which – once voted and determined – will be covered by the band and supported by a music video.
“We’re pumped to see what song Australia picks and are armed with our rock guitars to shred it into a new century… now if we could just get out of this Powerballad world to start practising,” DZ Deathrays explained in a statement upon its launch.
However, it appears that the campaign hasn’t exactly resonated with the band’s fans, who have taken to social media to criticise DZ Deathrays for their involvement with a lottery such as Powerball.
Despite closing out their sponsored Facebook ad by urging participants to “gamble responsibly” and sharing the number for Gambling Help, commenters were quick to simply label the campaign as “fkn pathetic.”
“Unliking this page, I loved your music but glorifying gambling by using bands to target their fans is low,” one commenter wrote, before another noted “You guys are better than this.” Another simply summed up the advertisement by stating: “Dz. come on. A promo for gambling?”
Others simply noted their frustration by accusing the band of having “sold out“, or explaining that they were “quite disappointed” by the band’s decision to be involved in something of this calibre.
The negativity continued over on Instagram as well, where fans stated that it’s a “real shame you’re doing this for a gambling company guys” and noting that “the lottery is evil and it’s disappointing that you all are doing this.”
Of course, the comments weren’t all bad, with one fan claiming that hearing DZ Deathrays share their own take on Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” would be “hella epic”.
In the statement shared last week upon the commencement of the campaign, Powerball senior marketing manager Jen Lyons noted that since its inception, the Powerball game has been “synonymous with independence, freedom and self-expression.”
“We get to really stretch our wings with Powerball and the way that we’re able to bring our brand essence – ‘Play By Your Own Rules’ – to life,” Lyons added.
“We know that a passion point for our growth audience is music and partnering with BRING, Spotify and DZ Deathrays has given us a chance to speak to this audience in a new, authentic and exciting way.
“We’re really excited to see what songs are nominated and how DZ Deathrays re-imagine the chosen song!”
Neither DZ Deathrays, Powerball, BRING, or Spotify have made any public response to the backlash at the time of publication.
