8 June 2010

Where the bloody hell are we?

| Pommy bastard
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[First filed: Jun 1, 2010 @ 8:23
Second filing: Jun 2, 2010 @ 8:23]

Apart from the sheer toe-curlingly awfulness of the singing, the total cliche of the imagery, and the jaw droppingly stupendous banality of the sentiments, has anyone noticed anything else about the 70’s style “Bogans on amphetamines” themed; “There’s Nothing Like Australia” advert?

Lots of cities get a show off, Sydders of course getting the lion’s share.

But not a peek of the nation’s capital. How odd.

Oh well it keeps the tourists away I suppose, and that’s not a bad thing for us residents.

Ps. Pommy Bastard is about to become….errmmmm… Aussie bastard, should I change my nick name?

UPDATE: Oh dear Brendan, do please try to keep up.

(While Brendan’s release is dated 7 June it didn’t go online until after COB on 8 June)

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watto23 said :

Its a blatant rip off from the discovery channel ad really.
They use the same music and the words “I like” alot….

I’m less impressed now, we’ve paid for a company to rip off an idea from another ad.

…There’s nothing like this Aussie ad…not!

I take it the Tourism Budget has recovered from Baz’s Australia movie then. Time for another dodgy Aussie advertising campaign. Time to pull out the shrimps and cry ‘Crikey’ whilst cuddling a local bear people… How many overseas tourists are going to catch the “that’s not a bear” line? I think it was only added for the Aussie viewers.

As for “where the bloody hell are ya?” – From the history books I’ve been reading Australia was better known of as “Bloody Hell” for the first 100 years or so of white settlement.

Does Canberra really need International tourists though? I always thought it was more about promoting itself as a domestic destination and surely thats an easier and more reliable thing to do.

Also its one of those places that only long-stayers will head to so you probably grab them when they are here – its not a reason to visit Australia per se which is what this ad is all about.

Most people who have 2 weeks etc will only go to Sydney and 1 other destination.

Backpackers will make it up once they get here and will generally stick to the coast or do something outback.

I happen to think Parliament House and the War Memorial are worthy international draw cards but you’ve got to appeal to people’s geek sides.

Get the 2nd airport built here with fast speed train to Sydney and Melbourne and then things might be different.

Captain RAAF8:20 am 09 Jun 10

The list of places in Australia that would provide some decent scenery is very long and they should all get a mention on advertising campaigns well before Canberra does, just for being the capital. The truth is, Canberra brings nothing to the party that any other half asleep country town could.

Now if we whacked another couple of hundred feet onto the chicken on a stick at Russell Offices, turned that horrible orange ski jump at the National Museum into a thrill ride and bred crocodiles in LBG, the tourists would flock here, but as this place can’t tolerate anything as exciting as a once a year car race without self destructing and has settled for the breakneck excitement of a flower show, anyone who complains about Canberra not making it into an international travel campaign needs to take a good look in the mirror and give themselves a few uppercuts.

Well what could they say or show about Canberra!!!!!!!

WonderfulWorld8:52 pm 08 Jun 10

“And it’s a paper-thin rip-off of the Discovery Channel boom-di-ada ad (which is OK, but it’s been done now):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BxymuiAxQ

At first look, I thought it was average. Second look a little clever. Third look, loved the “bear” comment. And I started to realise as a born ‘n bred Canberran, well we have never appeared before, and nothing has changed enough really to put us up their with other tourist sites to warrant an appearance at the international level. But I am disappointed as I was so proud of the Qantas ads, and this does seem to be following the Discovery Channels theme, but really – overall its not so bad.

I advocate Canberra but through my voice and my contacts, not by multimedia. Sure its not dragging in the crowds, but really, I’m sure marketing experts realise that to oversell a place, get bad review and bad word of mouth it also not good. I’d much prefer to be Australia’s best kept secret and let people who really want to visit enjoy come see for themselves and go home and spread the word about this great little town that doesn’t get a mention much, but is actually the Captial! I was a travel agent, for a very long time, and it was the hidden secrets of these little towns that I had heard about over the years, and that I surprised the right people at the right time with, that meant regular clientele for me for years.

Apparently WIN Television only read this post on the 7th of June, as it was part of the newscast last night.

hey, i put sarcasm tags on the last sentence!

Thanks to RiotACT being HTML-compliant, they’re ignoring a sarcasm flag.
Its part of the W3 process specification for html when encountering the Tag whose tag name is “sarcasm”:
Take a deep breath, then act as described in the “any other end tag” entry. (IE: Ignore it).

If you really want RA to show that you’re using the sarcasm flag, you have to learn some html and then build it yourself.
EG: <sarcasm> This comment is sarcastic. </sarcasm>

Appears as:
<sarcasm> This comment is sarcastic. </sarcasm>

PS: You have no idea just how annoying this post was to type.

This ad make me cringe – and that kangaroo scene looks about as real as the CGI Kangaroo scene from “Australia – The Movie”.

Why can’t they go back to the good old days, when the tourism ads featured someone like Paul Hogan talking like a yobbo, a few bronzed Aussie blokes in budgie smugglers and some fantastic looking birds in bikinis wandering around the beach? What more do they need to sell Oztraya???

Christ, what’s next – Bindi Irwin telling everyone how “really cool and awesome” Australia is?

Pommy bastard9:27 am 02 Jun 10

Jesus had two fathers IIRC? (“Honestly Joseph, it was an angel” the worse excuse ever?)

More trouble for the advert..

You don’t need Mickey Mouse ears to hear the similarities.

Tourism Australia’s latest ad jingle is close enough to Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club theme tune that it could struggle to defend a legal challenge, a music expert says.

In the wake of the Federal Court’s ruling in February that Men At Work pay for ripping off parts of their pub classic Down Under from Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree, Queensland Conservatorium of Music popular music program convenor Donna Weston said the chord progression in Tourism Australia’s jingle was about “80 per cent the same” as the Mickey Mouse theme song.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/travel/travel-news/australian-tourisms-mickey-mouse-campaign-20100601-wv73.html?autostart=1

Oh boy.

Pommy bastard said :

That would be useful advice, if I had a father….

Immaculate conception?

PB is Jesus!

“Feel the Power” Especially goes down well with miners. ’nuff said.

I’m an expat Aussie and the ad surprisingly tugged on my heart strings. The jingle has a nostalgic feel to it, like classic ‘Singo’-style ads of 20-30 years ago.

I’d like to think that they did some market research before they did the advert for whatever might work. I don’t like the jingle (hell, I can’t even understand some of what is being said let alone those who haven’t grown up here!!) but if it sells, it sells!! The images are great, just shows how lucky we are with such an array of scenery/experiences.

Pommy bastard8:20 pm 01 Jun 10

“Tried”, for goodness sake!

Pommy bastard8:19 pm 01 Jun 10

frontrow said :

In Aussie culture we have jokes, many of which do not begin with “Knock, knock” or “Did you hear the one about…”.

In Pommy Land we have jokes too, we prefer them funny though, still he treid.

Do you think Pork Hunt chose his names because he enjoys shooting pigs on the weekend?

No I think he chose it as Benny Hill is dead, and so isn’t around to give him a better “double entendre”.

kambahkrawler said :

I do think Canberra should have got a shot as there isn’t anywhere else in the world like it. Oh wait, I forgot about Milton Keynes.

Milton Keynes sure is a weird name for a town, reminds me of Milton Friedman and John Maynard Keynes, probably the two greatest economists of the 20th century.

Doesn’t seem like such a bad advert to me. Australians should stop trying to be yuppies and being overly concerned about what America thinks of us.

In Aussie culture we have jokes, many of which do not begin with “Knock, knock” or “Did you hear the one about…”.

Do you think Pork Hunt chose his names because he enjoys shooting pigs on the weekend?

Pommy bastard5:42 pm 01 Jun 10

Pork Hunt said :

In Aussie culture it is traditional to ask ones father for advice if confronted by a dilemma such as Pb’s…

That would be useful advice, if I had a father. Which part of;

Pommy bastard said :

“Natural Bastard,” would be good as I’m a bastard by birth and by nature, I could live with that. 🙂

confuses you? 😉

The “Incredible India” ads make Australia look like a Less Developed Country (Third World for those untainted by political-correctness) in comparison of quality and effectiveness.

That ad looks like it was thought by someone stuck in the 80’s but with access to a few asian kids for racial balance.

kambahkrawler said :

I do think Canberra should have got a shot as there isn’t anywhere else in the world like it. Oh wait, I forgot about Milton Keynes.

Don’t forget Griffith

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster4:51 pm 01 Jun 10

p1 said :

Ps. Pommy Bastard is about to become….errmmmm… Aussie bastard, should I change my nick name?

Nah, why bother, you know you’ll be picked on for being a Pom for the rest of your days. Congratulations, by the way.

Reminds me of when I went up to Noosa in the early 1980s. I commented to someone in the gym about all this “southern” crap I was hearing and he told me he moved to Qld more than 20 years prior and he was still called a Southerner.

In Aussie culture it is traditional to ask ones father for advice if confronted by a dilemma such as Pb’s…

Its a blatant rip off from the discovery channel ad really.
They use the same music and the words “I like” alot….

I’m less impressed now, we’ve paid for a company to rip off an idea from another ad.

kambahkrawler4:35 pm 01 Jun 10

davesact said :

The aim of the ad I believe is to help reinforce the old stereotypes that have been so successful to advertising in the past decades. The truth is Australia is the beautiful place portrayed but are the Australians depicted an accurate description of the population?

I’m not sure the face of Australia that most of us see – people in suits sitting in cafe’s supping latte and talking incessantly about the property market, is very different to the populations of countries that Mr K Australia is trying to attract.

I do think Canberra should have got a shot as there isn’t anywhere else in the world like it. Oh wait, I forgot about Milton Keynes.

So long as it’s not “Naturalist Bastard”…

Pommy bastard4:03 pm 01 Jun 10

“Natural Bastard,” would be good as I’m a bastard by birth and by nature, I could live with that. 🙂

Naturalized Bastard!

Gungahlin Al2:40 pm 01 Jun 10

ryza said :

“That’s not a bear…” now that was funny stuff. 1 moment of glory in 90 seconds of was worth it for me.

That’s so subtle I missed it. Was too busy thinking “sheesh – it’s not a bloody bear!”.

Pommy bastard2:16 pm 01 Jun 10

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

“Convict Bastard”

Nope, never been convicted, and I have no convictions.

Woody Mann-Caruso1:58 pm 01 Jun 10

“Convict Bastard”

p1 said :

Did this bit make anyone else think of a scene from Jurassic Park?

Not at first, but now that you’ve put that out there, I can’t help but do so!

ryza said :

“That’s not a bear…” now that was funny stuff. 1 moment of glory in 90 seconds of was worth it for me.

That was my favourite bit, too. I wonder how many people outside Australia are thinking, “But… it is a bear…” 🙂

ryza said :

“That’s not a bear…” now that was funny stuff. 1 moment of glory in 90 seconds of was worth it for me.

+1

Did this bit make anyone else think of a scene from Jurassic Park?

georgesgenitals11:50 am 01 Jun 10

Rawhide Kid No 2 said :

p1 said :

Ps. Pommy Bastard is about to become….errmmmm… Aussie bastard, should I change my nick name?

Nah, why bother, you know you’ll be picked on for being a Pom for the rest of your days. Congratulations, by the way.

How about “Aussie Pommy Barstard” That way your keeping up a tradition of sorts.

How about ‘Pussie Bastard’? Oh, hang on…

“That’s not a bear…” now that was funny stuff. 1 moment of glory in 90 seconds of was worth it for me.

The aim of the ad I believe is to help reinforce the old stereotypes that have been so successful to advertising in the past decades. The truth is Australia is the beautiful place portrayed but are the Australians depicted an accurate description of the population?

Perhaps we should air the AAMI ads to the world first so they know that we Australians always burst into ‘boganesque’ tunes when describing situations and places in our lives. The ad is really just another type of the the old ads with a jingle. Nothing really new.

Pommy bastard11:14 am 01 Jun 10

A brief shot of the town hall (parliament) or Telstryrama wouldn’t go amiss, even if the only purpose was to make the emmets wonder; “What, and where, is that then?”

p1 said :

Ps. Pommy Bastard is about to become….errmmmm… Aussie bastard, should I change my nick name?

Nah, why bother, you know you’ll be picked on for being a Pom for the rest of your days. Congratulations, by the way.

Many thanks, I’ll be proud to swear my allegiance to this great nation.

Rawhide Kid No 211:11 am 01 Jun 10

p1 said :

Ps. Pommy Bastard is about to become….errmmmm… Aussie bastard, should I change my nick name?

Nah, why bother, you know you’ll be picked on for being a Pom for the rest of your days. Congratulations, by the way.

How about “Aussie Pommy Barstard” That way your keeping up a tradition of sorts.

Horrible. Just horrible. Makes me not want to go to Australia … guess I’ll stay in Cbr :-/

And it’s a paper-thin rip-off of the Discovery Channel boom-di-ada ad (which is OK, but it’s been done now):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BxymuiAxQ

How many squillion $$ did the taxpayer shell for this rubbish?

And strikingly similar to this Discovery Channel ad from a year or so back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BxymuiAxQ

ConanOfCooma10:42 am 01 Jun 10

It’s all so extremely digitally enhanced that it qualifies as false advertising.

troll-sniffer10:41 am 01 Jun 10

The only part of the current ad that freaks me out is the pilot turning back to look at and sing to the Camera, while putting the plane into what looks like a bit of a steep curve. My stomach lurches…

She da copilot, da pilot is a sittin’ in da pilot’s seat, on da left. If it were a chopper, then yes she would be da pilot. And the bank angle might be as much as 15 degrees but a lot less I seem to recall… hardly steep even by airliner standards.

The mob that made the ad were responsible for the most-viewed ad on Youtube, an Evian babies clip that was a very impressive effort. It was inventive, ground-breaking, and tapped into a cutesie-pie empathy we all harbour. By contrast this ad looks for all the world like a second rate Qantas ad without the superb “Still Call Straya Home’ song.

I can’t see anything in the ad apart from perhaps the chillun next to the waterhole that has anything that is likely to stir the emotions of the world like Paul Hogan did and more or less make them WANT to come here. All this ad does is put Straya into a queue of destinations available to inernational travellers. I give it 4 out of 10.

I have a lot of sympathy for any poor bastard who’s job it is to create a message that sells Australia – inevitable that they’re going to cop some flak from one section or another of society for misrepresenting them.

Misses the point a bit though – they’re not trying to make a documentary, and through it give a factual representative cross section of Australia, but tap into OTHER non-Australian people’s perceptions of Australia and what they want to see when they’re here (and there’s your explanation of why Canberra doesn’t feature).

It’s not necessarily about showing WHAT to see, it’s about triggering the impulse to GO.

Wow… that’s all a bit abstract for this early in the morning… at least with this one its a bit clearer than the dream-sequence weirdo stuff that came out around the time of Baz Luhrmann’s last film.

The only part of the current ad that freaks me out is the pilot turning back to look at and sing to the Camera, while putting the plane into what looks like a bit of a steep curve. My stomach lurches…

So I may be fighting against the crowd here, but I like it – in the sense that I think it works.

Don’t get caught up in ‘we are cultured, really we are truly’. Think – why do people come here? Its not for the culture, believe me. That’s why the tourist trail is Sydney to Qld to NT, harbour to beaches to rainforest and desert.

And that’s how it is for every country. Why do you go to Fiji? Sun and reefs.. Why do you go to Italy – to look at its ruins, art and sip a coffee. Do you care about its cutting edge cinema or literary scene? Same for Egypt. Hands up if you have been to Angkhor Wat and the killing fields and also know the current political situation in Cambodia (I have and I don’t)? What do the ads by India Tourism promote? (hint: 2 words, initials T and M). Haven’t noticed India extolling the virtues of their rapid technological development.

People go to countries to experience things they cannot get where they live. There is nothing in Australia that is unique, apart from our landscape and wildlife and, perhaps arguably, our friendliness (personally its not much different to other countries, but we have that reputation).

So that’s what you sell. For us it seems like a cliché, another koala and people surfing blah blah. But for the rest of the world, guess what – this is not a cliché. This is interesting, new, its something they cannot get in their own country. Want to do it somewhere relaxed and fun? Australia. Which does kinda leave Canberra off the map.

Do you think NZers get upset at their country being promoted as mountains and clean lakes and kiwis? Are they cliches – yes. Do their ads work. Apparently, they win awards.

Ps. Pommy Bastard is about to become….errmmmm… Aussie bastard, should I change my nick name?

Nah, why bother, you know you’ll be picked on for being a Pom for the rest of your days. Congratulations, by the way.

amarooresident39:45 am 01 Jun 10

Bogantastic it may be, but people forget that international tourism ads aren’t supposed to impress us. If playing up to existing perceptions/cliches about Australia brings the tourists in than so be it.

Well, melbourne got Flinders St Station in (I think), and the Yarra valley vineyards, and rowing on the Yarra.

Other than an Australia Day Live show I can’t think of a Canberra scene that would fit in here (but I welcome your suggestions)

It *is* rather catchy though, can’t get the damn thing out of my head.

Are we to believe from this ad that Melbourne had floated off to Antarctica?

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