Labor’s official campaign launch in Western Sydney on Saturday has been overshadowed by a bizarre campaign advertisement for the upcoming election.

In a video coinciding with the launch, Chloe Shorten plays the role of sympathetic journalist in a surprisingly formal interview with husband Bill Shorten.

The video shows Mrs Shorten interviewing Mr Shorten about everything, from his Army reserve days to parenting to his mother.

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“Tell me about your mum, your wonderful mother Ann and her history as a teacher and a school principal, what that gave you,” Mrs Shorten asked.

The interview aims to paint Mr Shorten as more than a politician, much like Malcolm Turnbull’s advertisement about his father released two weeks ago.

“I should have stayed in (the Army Reserve) longer,” Mr Shorten said in the video.

“I was, I loved being a rifleman and learning all those skills. But somewhat fortunately Australia is guarded by really elite professional defence forces and reservists and I think to the relief of the Army I stopped being a rifleman.”

Responding to Mrs Shorten’s question about how he spends his weekends, Mr Shorten said he liked to “sneak in the odd jog’’ and that he “generally” tried to make his wife happy.

It comes as the latest in a string of strange campaign videos, after the Prime Minister spoke of his childhood and the influence of his father Bruce last month, while Bob Katter last week released a highly-criticised video in which he shoots dead faceless members of the two major parties.

Watch the peculiar interview between Chloe and Bill Shorten below.