Australia’s bid for either the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup has gone viral, with a huge social media drive underway by Football Federation Australia (FFA).
Launched yesterday in Canberra with the catch-cry “come play”, the $45 million campaign has a Barack Obama-style twang.
The Web site, Australia2018-2022, encourages interaction through news, blogs, videos and forums, and every person who interacts with the Web site will be recorded.
The ‘Take Action’ section of the Web site states:
This website is your place to make Australia shine. Your actions prove how passionate we are about hosting the FIFA World Cup. Take action now and make a statement to the world.
At yesterday’s launch, FFA chairman Frank Lowy said the people of Australia are its “secret weapon” to snaring the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup and encouraged the public to join the football-themed social networking Web site.
“We invite people from all over Australia and the world to join the bid by signing onto our Web site,” Lowy said.
The viral campaign has already hit Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Flickr and YouTube in an effort to conjure up further interest in the bid from the public.