‘One of the biggest music investments in Australian advertising’: Mitsubishi’s AC/DC splurge
Mitsubishi Motors has hijacked Aussie culture with a new campaign featuring a classic AC/DC lyric change that every Australian knows and loves, via Richards Rose.
Intending to promote the new Mitsubishi Outlander while simultaneously celebrating the brand’s 45th year in Australia, the new campaign plays into a decades-long Aussie lyric change of the 1975 hit ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)’.
The long-running joke — which changes the lyric to “it’s long way to the shop (if you want a sausage roll)” — is one known by almost every Australian, going back the 50 years since the song was released.
Tapping into this cultural connection, the hero spot follows a family road trip, jamming to the classic song and showcasing the car’s features. Once the family arrive at ‘the shop’, they discover they’re not the only ones craving a sausage roll.
“We thought, maybe there is a world where we can talk about a very modern car, but still have that nod to heritage and nostalgia,” Richards Rose’s chief creative officer, Adam Rose, told Mumbrella. “And the song, which we thought was a favourite among Aussie road trip music, is so iconic, but we knew we needed to lean into the joke. That’s when everything started to fall into place.”
Despite it “being a long shot”, Mitsubishi and Richards Rose managed to get AC/DC’s approval to use the original track — something that hasn’t been done before — with a spin using the Aussie-fied lyrics.
“We loved the idea, and we hoped that if it got to AC/DC, they’d see the funny side of it and almost see it as a sign of respect,” Rose said. “We were able to get our pitch in front of Angus Young earlier this year, and I’ll never forget the moment I got the call to say that we got final approval and Angus was happy to go ahead.”
Rather than get a smaller artist to cover the iconic song, as is common in campaigns in order to keep costs down, Rose said the team wanted it to be authentic.
The spot pays homage to the song’s iconic bagpipe riff
“It obviously came with a hefty price tag, but thankfully Mitsubishi saw that as an opportunity to invest.”
Without giving a cost, he suspected it was “one of the biggest music investments in Australian advertising”.
Mitsubishi Motors Australia’s chief operating officer, Rob Nazzari, said in a media release that the campaign will create a “halo effect for the masterbrand”.
Rose expanded on this, and said Mitsibushi has always encouraged Aussies to be more adventurous — evident in its other recent campaigns including one for the Triton featuring Russell Coight — and it never wants to take itself too seriously.
“This campaign sums up what we’re about in terms of Aussie adventures, but doing so with a smile. Having that lighter side of it, stuff that people can connect with, things they relate to,” he said. “We’re really confident in feeling authentic, and hopeful that it does rub off on the entire brand.”
Credits:
Client: Mitsubishi Motors Australia
Chief Executive Officer: Shaun Westcott
Chief Operating Officer: Rob Nazzari
General Manager, Marketing & Corporate Affairs: Sam Wight
Group Marketing Manager – Marketing & Corporate Affairs: Amy Hooper
Marketing Manager – Brand Marketing & Corporate Affairs: Julia Turner
Agency: Richards Rose
Chief Creative Officer: Adam Rose
Executive Creative Director: Alex Stainton
Art Director: David Jones-Hawke
Head of Production: Tanya Hairman
Chief Executive Officer: Digby Richards
Head of Strategy: Joseph Smeaton
Head of Account Management: Kristen Sandberg
Senior Account Manager: Mahoko Waga
Studio Manager: Alistair Donald
Production Company: Scoundrel
Director: Ariel Martin
Executive Producer: Kate Gooden
Producer: Alex Tizzard
DOP: Sam Chiplin
1st AD: Adam Wareham
Editor: Phoebe Taylor
Post-Production: ARC
Music Supervision: Michael Szumowski, Big Sync Music
Sound Design: Simon Kane, Massive Music
Photographer: Janyon Boshoff
Media: Wavemaker Adelaide
Keep up to date with the latest in media and marketing
Got a tip?
Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
Linkedin
Have your say