Vegemite renames itself ‘Australia’ in build up to Australia Day
Two and a half years after its iSnack 2.0 naming disaster, Vegemite is again building a marketing campaign around amending its name – this time temporarily rebranding the product as “Australia” in the run up to Australia Day.
Different versions of the jar, which also replaces the Vegemite red diamond with a map of Australia, will feature the stories of ten quirky Australians, including a member of Australia’s sudoku team.
The search for the individuals to be on the jars was launched last May in Vegemite’s “toast of the nation” promotion devised by ad agency JWT.
In a statement announcing the promotion, Vegemite marketing director Jenny Nolch said: “Changing Vegemite’s name to Australia for a limited time in the lead up to Australia Day is our way of showing some contemporary Australian pride. It’s about having a bit of fun and celebrating the irreverence of the Australian culture.”
Along with JWT, other agencies involved in the campaign are Carat, Tgarage and Royce.
In 2009 Vegemite ran a competition to name its new snack. It picked as the winner the name “iSnack 2.0”. But the decision rapidly became a national joke, and Kraft quickly renamed it Cheesybite.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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omg just leave vegemite alone will ya Kraft!!
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I love it!
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Awesome. Shame for them that coke pulled the same trick just a few months ago.
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I suppose it is gross that I still have a bottle of iSnack 2.0 in my fridge.
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I suppose it is gross that I still have a bottle of iSnack 2.0 in my fridge.
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Don’t forget the blackface: http://resources1.news.com.au/.....ebrand.jpg
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Did you see the piece on this on The Project last night? Vegemite’s spokesperson at the press conference to launch this called the campaign “irrelevant” repeatedly (mispronouncing irreverent). Could not help but laugh 😛
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A simple and relevant way of Vegemite ‘owning’ Australian.
I don’t care if its been done before, or how many times its been done before.
It’s the right thing to do for Vegemite.
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This promotion isn’t remotely the same thing as rebranding or renaming a new product. Attempting to develop some link between this promotion and the i-Snack 2.0 disaster is tenuous at best. Its closer in strategy to the current Coke campaign than what Vegemite have previously done before. I like it.
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Thankfully, there are several ‘Australian’ alternatives to Vegemite that taste just as good, sometimes better.
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It looks so cheesy and over done…. Can’t say I’m a fan. A more subtle option could have been simply the vegemite work in Aus outline. Like the thought though for a quintessential Aussie brand
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Ruined by a yank company
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How can the foreign owners of Vegemite have the gall to change the name to Australia. I would’ve expected this as a headline on April First, but Australia Day, gimme a break. Long live Mighty Mite, an Australian owned product.
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I dont buy vegemite. It has also been owned by a cigarette {Phillip Morris} company and I am anti smoking. It’s American not Aussie anymore. To call it Australia is an insult to us.
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hey! The Internetz 6 Jan 12 9:22 am
Do you know where I can see that? got a link anywhere?
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So can ANYONE just call ANYTHING “AUSTRALIA”?! Any lawyers have an opinion here? For instance they couldn’t call it “ANZAC” in the lead-up to ANZAC day as that was legislated against in 1921. Not sure I like the “looseness” (irreverence?!) with which the name of a country is associated here…
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As a Kiwi, I can’t wait to see the New Zealand version for Waitangi (New Zealand) Day…
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Ironic for an American company that bought OUR Aussie Brand… I would not have drawn attention to that – NOTHING Aussie about our profits going O/S…
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You can stick your weak as p1ss Vegemite.
Marmite all the way(.)
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