‘A great brand fit’: Matt Preston and Don Smallgoods revive iconic Don character

September 8, 2025 11:16

Matt Preston shaved off his facial hair to play "the Don"

Packaged meats brand Don Smallgoods has resurrected its famous Don character with the help of celebrated food aficionado and TV personality, Matt Preston, in a campaign from The Royals.

Australians were introduced to the character in the 1990s with actor Tommy Dysart taking on the European Godfather-like persona. With its latest campaign, Don aims to slice through contemporary foodie culture with the famous, simple slogan, “Is Don. Is Good”.

According to The Royals managing partner and founder, Steve O’Farrell, the decision to revive Don was prompted by extensive research.

“Research told us that the most distinctive assets we had were based on the classic campaign from the early 90s, and we knew that it would be very expensive to create a new suite of assets with similar levels of potency and salience,” O’Farrell told Mumbrella.

“So after a couple of rounds of work and testing, we then agreed to push forward with an updated version of the Don Craftsman — because we knew if we could do that successfully, that would maximise our chances of getting the cut through that we needed to help make Don famous again.”

To achieve that level of notoriety, the agency “spent an exhaustive amount of time” combing through “Don archetypes” to find talent that would best reflect the existing character. The team looked at international and domestic names, but said it was clear that Matt Preston was “a great brand fit”.

“There was nobody in Australia that came close to Matt in terms of the food credentials,” O’Farrell said. The former Masterchef judge also had enthusiasm for the Don brand.

“Matt knew an enormous amount about the brand and the products just because he’s so familiar with small goods … he was far and away our first choice after a fair amount of research both here and overseas.

“ Matt was the logical, respected Australian name that we knew we needed to help recreate this Don Craftsman character.”

The project features a 30-second film that shows Preston preparing a dish of pasta pomodoro with Don salami, while he narrates his steps with his signature articulate flair. But the film takes a noticeably straightforward approach once Preston serves the dish to himself — this time in character as Don Craftsman — and he delivers the famous line “Is Don. Is Good”.

“The DON craftsman is such an iconic Australian character and I was honoured to take on the role. I love the idea that someone known for using so many words should be asked to take on the mantle of one of the most plain-speaking Australian characters in Australian advertising history. Or as he would rather more sparingly just say, ‘Is Don. Is Good’,” Preston said in a media release.

Sophie Fetterplace, head of marketing and innovation at Don Smallgoods, said in the same release that the new campaign perfectly captures the brand’s passion for maintaining excellence in its products.

“Since 1947, the DON name has been synonymous with ham, bacon and Smallgoods Australia wide. This recognition stems from our passion and dedication to the quality of the Smallgoods we produce,” Fetterplace said.

“Matt Preston and The Royals have shared this passion and translated it into a distinctive and memorable creative platform; one, like DON, that will stand the test of time.”

The campaign is running on social, online, out of home and TV channels.

CREDITS

Client:

DON Smallgoods

Creative Agency:

The Royals

Production: Rabbit

Director: Lachlan Dickie

Photographer: Chris Budgeon

Post House: Puffin

Music/Sound: Rumble

Media: PMG