Dr Mumbo

Will the real spirit of Australia please stand up?

Dr Mumbo must admit to not having been on a plane for a while, and is not keen about the prospect, after witnessing the chaos of Qantas flights in the news. However, an unusual complaint about the airline has caught Dr Mumbo’s eye.

Phillip Adams, the writer who coined the famous “the Spirit of Australia” tagline for Qantas, has announced in a tweet he’s withdrawing the slogan from being used further by the company.

In fact, Adams made an offer to the ABC in 2020, suggesting the public broadcaster take up the tagline instead of Qantas.

But Dr Mumbo is not sure how the proposed change of ownership will be received by the spirit-obsessed tourism marketing industry, including Spirit of Tasmania, Spirit of Queensland, Spirit of Melbourne, Spirit of Kangaroo Island…

When reached out about whether Adams has contractual ownership of the slogan, a Qantas spokesperson was quite clear: “The Spirit of Australia tagline is an iconic part of the Qantas brand and isn’t going anywhere”.

Which is exactly what Dr Mumbo will be doing.

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