There’s nothing like Australia… or Mickey Mouse, Aeroplane Jelly or Vegemite
There have been a lot of comparisons made to Tourism Australia’s “There’s nothing like Australia” jingle, from Aeroplane Jelly, to the Vegemite ad and the Discovery channel.
Another tune on the list is the Mickey Mouse Club theme song. The Brisbane Times has even put a poll up asking its readers which song most sounds like the Tourism Oz ad.
And so far out of over 1,000 votes and at the time of writing, Mickey Mouse has taken the lead.
I think you will find the poll was on brisbanetimes.com.au not Sydney Morning Herald
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Hi Karl,
Yes, you’re right. It appears to have been syndicated across Fairfax titles The Age, SMH and Brisbane Times – but originally from the latter esp. given the quote is someone from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music.
Now updated in the piece.
Cheers,
Camille – Mumbrella
TERRIBLE! This is not about cringing at ourselves painted large (all the scenarios are true) but REACHING international markets with something they understand. Shit! I could barely comprehend the garbled lines and slang. What hope does the German market have . . . the same audiences who were mortified over the “Bugger” ads and didn’t rate La Bingle?? Too many location shots, too much Aussie candour. Why doesn’t the agency ASK the OS markets (Chaser style) what THEY think of Australia and form some ads out of those kooky notions. I would prefer to see those and the OS markets probably would too.
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I’ve read through all the comments. I then went to YouTube and Google to look for Tourism videos on most of the countries I’ve visited. A few that I found reminded me of place I went, and depicted the culture and scenery to a tee. Very few of those Official Tourism ads had I seen before I travelled, nor would they influenced my decision to travel. It’s a bigger conversation and mechanic that influences you to travel – we aren’t in a traditional advertising world anymore, and this isn’t just about getting just the TVC right.
So if we flipped this whole discussion on it’s head – for all those that belong in advertising in Australia – consider this for a moment;
Australian’s are passionate and parochial. The TA brief is a national campaign, and belongs to all Australian agencies, not just one. It should be worked on by the best creative & strategic minds, farmed from the talent pool that belongs within our national advertising agencies. A consortium of talent from each agency works on the brief each year – rather than just one agency.
Sure, I’m not forgetting that each advertising agency pitches for an account and wins based on the premise that the best strategic & creative heads work on the account. But “Australia” is a big brand, bigger than Toyota, Nissan’s, Unilevers, P&Gs, Westpac/St.George, Kellogs, Qantas etc – because Australia is something more permanent to our culture; it’s our land, our heritage, seasons, destinations, animals, people, landscapes, diversity….depth beyond any brand.
The TA brief is the responsibility of all of us (in the industry) who have posted comments with a view to why it’s good and why it’s bad. Perhaps it doesn’t hit the the right note, so to speak. But because I have an opinion, and I work in the industry – I have a sense of what could be done to make it great.
At the end of the day, my hard earned taxes go into making these ads, and I’m bluddy proud of our country, why shouldn’t we be proud of our ads too?
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@ What if we all got the TA brief?
By any chance do you work for TA or DDB?
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DDB Sydney ripped off the concept from Discovery Channel and then Josh Abrahams (the music producer) ripped off the Mickey Mouse theme. What an excellent showcase of Australian creative talent to send to the world.
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The beginning is reminiscent of Christmas in Killarney, complete with the list of things this holly tree, this ivy green, this rock, this billabong, etc. ;-), followed by skippy, skippy, australia, there’s nothing like, the bush kangaroo.
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@indiancurry….teeeheee…no, not at all!
I work in agency land, and one that’s never touched the account, but have peeps that have.
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G’day mate. My version took only a couple of minutes and cost nothing. Tourism Australia could pay me 1% of the $150 mill and i’d be stoked out of me tree.
You can check out my version on Youtube.
Good on ya.
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I can’t believe how bad this is – something you can rely on is a dismal fail by TA – every time.
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