The Rudd government has employed advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi to help scare off potential asylum seekers to Australia.
The taxpayer-funded campaign will be shown in Sri Lanka, where street theatre and local actors will help spread the message that coming to Australia illegally is dangerous, according to news.com.au.
Civil war in northern Sri Lanka has created a massive refugee problem, with more than 250,000 displaced persons in that region alone.
Saatchi & Saatchi's Ronald Peiris said the campaign would use "street drama" to take its message directly to the people.
Actors will play people smugglers, and warn locals their efforts to escape from Sri Lanka will end in disappointment.
"A lot of rumours are being spread that people can make it," Mr Peiris told News Limited.
"What we want to tell the people is that what you hear is not what really happens."
Catholic Churches are also being targeted, with literature and pamphlets being distributed around parishes warning asylum seekers they will not be welcome in Australia.
The push has been dubbed the "Stay the Bloody Hell Away" campaign by media, in reference to Tourism Australia's much-maligned "Where the Bloody Hell Are You" campaign.
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