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MLA hands lamb campaign to the Monkeys with future of ‘lambassador’ Sam Kekovich in doubt

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) has handed its flagship lamb campaign to The Monkeys, Mumbrella can reveal.

BMF has handled the lamb campaign, which focuses around Australia Day, for 14 years, but the organisation has decided to give the duties to The Monkeys after it was added to the roster following a pitch in May.  BMF retains the beef elements of the account and One Green Bean will handle PR. The new agreements were effective from July 1.

The future of ‘lambassador’ Sam Kekovich has also not been confirmed. The former AFL player has appeared in several rousing ads in the past few years, this year urging parents to pass on the lamb love, suffering from Lambnesia the year before and parodying Barbie Girl in 2012.

MLA’s regional manager Australia Lachlan Bowtell confirmed the division of duties to Mumbrella, however declined to comment on the campaign’s future strategy, saying it was currently under review.

When asked if this meant the end of Kekovich, Bowtell was coy but said he would still be involved.

The Monkeys CEO and co-founder Mark Green told Mumbrella: “It’s an iconic piece of advertising business and we’re loving the opportunity to write the next chapter. It’s a lot fun and we’re in it already, it’s busy and happening.”

Green would not divulge how Kekovich will be involved in the next phase of the campaign.

On the account handover, BMF CEO Dominic Stinton said: “We’re very proud of our Australia Day lamb campaign from these past fourteen years, and we’re equally excited to seeing how our roster partners the Monkeys move the campaign on; we wish them the best of luck.”

MLA’s most recent campaign has been for beef, with BMF creating the Beef Oracle to promote beef as the protein of choice for winter.

Miranda Ward

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