Tourism body’s ‘Roo Mail’ mockumentary gets flack for depicting Queenslanders as bogans
A video released by Tourism Queensland that tells the story of a kangaroo postal service has registered 167,000 views on YouTube.
The three-minute film, created by Clemenger BBDO Brisbane, has also prompted complaints from some who feel duped by the faked service and upset about its portrayal of Queenslanders.
In a story on News.com.au, Mick Lilley, the presenter on the mockumentary, said the video has drawn criticism for those featuring in the video “carrying on like Aussie bogans, hicks and hillbillies”.
“Others think it is true, that we really do have kangaroos delivering our mail up here,” he told News.com.au.
http://youtu.be/ndnUTM57iqg
TQ’s director of digital marketing Chris Chambers told Mumbrella that the response had mostly been positive.
“This isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste. But we’re very satisfied with the response so far,” he said. “Look at the 3-minute video – there are more than 3000 likes, and just 29 dislikes.”
“We certainly hoped people would think it was real. But the videos were uploaded by us and sit on our YouTube channel. And in the description beneath the video we use the words ‘Tall Tales’ and ‘drop bears’. So it’s unlikely people would be fooled for long,” he added.
There is a 40-second version of the video:
http://youtu.be/avcVrvX78GQ
Behind the scenes footage:
http://youtu.be/MOKubvAClKg
Another video proves that kangaroos were not harmed during filming – and are hard to work with:
http://youtu.be/OnRQOfnYA9E
More content on a similar theme is to be released in the coming weeks, first to Tourism Queensland’s Facebook page.
Chambers said that the target audience for the videos was primarily domestic, but may be used to target international audiences in the coming weeks. New Zealand is Queensland’s biggest market by volume, followed by Southeast Asia, UK\Europe and the US.
“The idea came from some thinking we’ve done internally about where we want to be as a tourism destination. We wanted to get outside of the tourist space and into the entertainment arena,” Chambers added. “Expect more of this sort of thing. It will become the norm for what we’re trying to achieve as a brand.”
Tourism Queensland courted controversy in April with an ad campaign promoting the fact that the state’s disastrous floods had made ‘the grass greener’.
The only prescription for QLD…is MORE COWBAY!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4royOLtvmQ
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From my observations, after moving here from Victoria, they’re right; bogans and yobbos. They would bring back the corrupt Bjelke-Peterson era in a heartbeat if they could.
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It was just a bit of fun / tongue-in-cheek. We love Mick’s yarns up here in Cow Bay. Bring on more I say!
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I actually think that’s really cute! The only thing letting it down is the stupid presenter. The kangaroo is more believable than him.
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They are bogans. No disputing it.
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Someone got paid to make this? Its embarrassing. Have another go ya mugs.
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Oh My Gawd … where was the Flying Doctor?
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The roo is a better performer than the presenter.
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The truth hurts.don’t get too precious queenslanders you are who you are accept it
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