Is Ten’s viral Kekovich video part of a commercial deal with MLA?
Kekovich hit by cricket ball in suspicious video
Days after posting a video purporting to show Sam Kekovich being hit by a cricket ball during a live cross, Ten has revealed that it is the commercial TV network partner for this year’s Australia Day campaign from Meat and Livestock Australia.
Ten disabled comments on the YouTube video after a large number of people suggested that the footage was faked.
The new video apparently shows Kekovich taking part in a live cross with Ten weatherman Tim Bailey at Birchgrove Oval in Leichhardt.
The pair stand on the side of a cricket game at a barbecue, while Bailey introduces Kekovich as the “Lambassador”. Kekovich is the long standing frontman for MLA’s lamb promotions.
As Kekovich starts to speak to Bailey, he appears to be struck on the head by a cricket ball, the camera is knocked over and an anxious voice asks “Is he okay?”
But the video quickly raised suspicions.
Commenters pointed out that two different camera shots are used, and it would be unusual for an outside broadcast of this type to utilise more than one camera. They also question why the camera would fall over when it was Kekovich who was hit.
The video has already attracted around 300,000 views.
Recent years have seen the TV networks compete hard to win the bulk of the spend on MLA’s Australia Day campaign. Kekovich’s annual Australia Day address ad has become a celebrated part of the advertising landscape. Previous campaigns – masterminded by BMF – have included a tie-in with Seven’s coverage of the Australian Open tennis.
If the video has been faked, it would be a risky move by Ten for the credibility of its news brand, as it has uploaded the video onto the YouTube channel where it normally places its news reports. However, the fact that it features weatherman Tim Bailey, rather than any news presenters, perhaps helps mitigate that risk.
Today Ten issued a press release saying that it had won the MLA campaign. Aaron Quirk, head of cross-platform sales at Ten’s sales operation Connect said in the release: “We are delighted to have won MLA’s Australia Day 2013 campaign, arguably the most coveted cross-platform deal of the year.”
Ten’s deal includes a one hour prime time special featuring Kekovich called The Australia Day Showdown – You Can Never be Too Australian. Hosted by Charlie Pickering, the debate show is produced by Roving Enterprises. DMG Australia is also part of the deal.
Quirk said in the release: “The Australia Day Showdown is a perfect example of Connect’s ability to meet our clients’ needs in targeting a youthful audience through an integrated, innovative and tailored campaign.”
At the time of posting, Ten had not returned Mumbrella’s calls to ask whether the video had been manufactured.
Ten also promoted the video on its Facebook page, where many of the commenters also call out the video as fake.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Obviously fake.. like they weren’t even trying.
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Clearly a shonk. Disappointing considering the ground-breaking stuff from previous years.
Is what happens when you get a media agency and media owner to deliver a “creative” solution. An omnishambles, so far.
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Faked yet funny nonetheless. Definitely successful in creating buzz/attention. Thanks for sharing
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Translation = They dropped their pants & gave us integration in their news
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That video is ridiculous.
Ten is trying to get on the viral train that left the station ages ago. And the video was not hiding any signs of it being fake.
When a live shot is done, the feed is already running the vision from the camera before the presenter does their bit and is crossed to. If this were a real feed, there would have been counting down and the presenter getting ready.
The shots of Sam getting hit were very vague and weirdly from different camera angles. We didn’t actually really see the ball hit Sam. This would have had more potential if there was a bit of a comedy slant to it, and something more ridiculous was done and if there was some effort put into editing.
I’m stating the obvious here, Ten needs to start putting more effort into creating content that people want, and not treating the audience as if they’re idiots.
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If, they were hoping people would see this as legit then it’s a fail, but the mere presence of Kekovich already has you on guard. I think they fool a viewer or not doesn’t really matter it’s just a bit of fluff attached to a broader campaign.
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I think the clip is a perfect ad for Ten: cheap, tired, hammy production glued together by forgery. Did anyone check to make sure this wasn’t a deleted scene from The Shire?
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It’s so obviously fake, especially when you know Australia Day is coming. That controversy is a great start for a teaser. I’m more curious about what’s coming next than whether the ball hits him or not.
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I’ve seen more realistic UFO fakes than this.
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Riveting article again Mumbrella! You must be commended for your investigative work. Liars, fakes and illusionists infecting the advertising industry should be weeded out one by one. You’re a shining light Mumbrella and a beacon for us all trying to work honestly in adland. Thank you.
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So lame, and so fake.
Treating viewers and consumers like idiots.
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Authenticity aside, why have 300,000 people bothered to watch Sam Kekovich getting hit in the head with a cricket ball. Am I missing something? Was it in fact a lamp chop disguised as a cricket ball?
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Ummm Birchgrove Oval I’m pretty sure is in Birchgrove and even if it was in Leichhardt (2 suburbs away) the spelling isn’t “”Leichard”. It is the birthplace of Rugby League is this country after all….
“Let he who cast the first stone”…
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LOL at my own grammer errors… But hey I ain’t a journalist!
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He’s one tough nut, our old Jack!
We never even heard a “crack”!
Give that man a lamb chop!
For using his head as backstop!
I can’t wait to hear his wisecrack!
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The amount of ‘likes’ is low for the amount of views. Someone has been buying views me thinks.
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I believe this YouTube video is genuine. I also believe the videos of squirrels riding skateboards are genuine as well.
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I think this article is a fake! For starters if it were real then the author would have an editor look over it or at least used google maps or spell check. It obviously hasn’t been, as Rob R also notes, where the hell is “Leichard”? And who really cares that the video is fake or not? Relax people! You wouldn’t go around screaming to little children that Santa is fake, let people believe and stop scrambling to get on the “Oh I Knew It Was Fake All Along Darling!” bandwagon.
Remember you enjoy the lamb ads just as much as everyone else, you know it makes sense.
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Channel Ten, gold.
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Love it – who cares if it’s fake.
Hayden W – get a life.
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When are the official lamb adverts for Australia Day coming out? Does anyone know? I look forward every year to them!
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Fake? Fake?
Every cricket match I’ve ever been to or seen on TV has had two boofy blokes on the field while the game is in progress cooking a BBQ at eiher deep cover or deep mid-wicket – so this clip HAS to be real!
And Rob R – just for the record, Birchgrove Oval may be the birthplace of rugby league in Australia but I think you will also find that in the 1903 Sydney AFL season Balmain Australian Football Club played there. And while I may be getting on a bit … no I didn’t run water for them that season.
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When you start muddying your online news channel with “integrated” videos (regardless of how real/fake it looks) you’re on a very slippery slope. There’s a place for that sort of thing and its not in News -mucking around within their news framework will come at the cost of their own credibility. Good one TEN, on track for another record year on the downward spiral.
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The website domain lambnesia.com.au was registered prior to October 18th, 2012…meaning the commercial is fake, or there’s a true blue psychic working at Channel 10. 😉
http://www.whoismydomain.com.a.....sia.com.au
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