It was the ad which made Lara Bingle famous, the ad whose typical Aussie language sent its target audience packing – and not destined for our shores: Tourism Australia’s 2006 advertising campaign which carried the divisive slogan, ‘So where the bloody hell are you?’
Denoted in the text are a variety of landscapes, from deserts to oceans, with a range of individuals from children to young women to middle aged men, along with a variety of cultures synonymous with Australia including Aboriginal dancers.
Each sequence involves visual signs such as beer, pubs, camels, water, beach, sun, sand, kangaroos, Queenslander houses, seaplanes and Uluru, as well as aural signs such as a combination between traditional indigenous sounds and a more modern, relaxed humming tune.
Following a series of commentary accompanying each sequence, the ad concludes with the slogan, “So where the bloody hell are you?”
These signifiers denoted in the text, it can be assumed, were constructed by the advertising team to appeal to foreign visitors by associating images with commonly-held perceptions about the Australian lifestyle.
For example, a fellow in a pub in the ‘middle of the outback’ (which is in fact the Silverton Hotel of Mad Max fame) says, “We’ve poured you a beer,” holding up a full schooner to the camera; connotations carried within this sequence include the ‘outback’ perception of Australia – as a vast, dry, red land, dotted with small localities where the local pub is the heart and soul of the town (indeed, it may be the only landmark of a locality), this combined with the connotation of Australians as relaxed, rugged characters, who don’t mind a cold glass of something to ward off the heat and celebrate a hard day’s work.
In another sequence, a gentleman stands holding a golf flag, saying “And we’ve got the roos off the green”, as he nods toward a herd of kangaroos which are bounding away. These signs connote images of Australia as a place where common activities, such as playing golf, are given an ‘Aussie’ twist, as you might just happen across some wandering kangaroos during your game of golf. The kangaroo, a famous component of the national emblem, is often associated with ‘the outback’ also, and assists with the creation of Australia as a dynamic environment where daily life is pleasantly interrupted by extraordinary occurrences (which by the golfer’s laid-back nature is portrayed to be quite usual).
Australian model and media personality Lara Bingle featured in the controversial tourism advertising campaign.
Featuring Lara Bingle, the last sequence without doubt (due to the subsequent media storm surrounding it) is the most well known part of the ad. The blonde woman stands on the beach in a colourful bikini and asks the viewer, “So where the bloody hell are you?”
This sequence concludes with a longshot of the woman standing on the desolate, sunny beach, with the Tourism Australia website ‘Australia.com’ followed by a bounding kangaroo.
Connoted in this sequence is a variety of ideologies about Australia; firstly, the tanned, blonde, ‘surfer chick’, who can be found on beaches around Australia; the beach itself, a vast expanse of tranquil, undisturbed beauty; and the infamous slogan, which references the Australian colloquialism, ‘bloody hell’, as a common turn of phrase. It was these two words, common and mostly unastonishing (although still at times harsh) in general Australian conversation, which caused much consternation among audiences around the world. It can be argued that as an ad promoting Australia, use of local linguistic customs is fitting, however this is an example of a cultural divide, something which must be bridged particularly in portraying a message which is supposed to be ‘inviting’.
This ad exemplifies the way in which marketing developers must be careful to consider their target audience; use of this phrase was most certainly a risk the marketers discussed, and it could have had the opposite effect of making the phrase popular amongst visitors; unfortunately the phrase held negative connotations for the target audience and thus the ad (which is reported to have cost in excess of $180 million – ABC News) was discarded in 2008.
P.s. Thankyou The Inspiration Room for the image.
P.p.s. Thankyou Flackin for the video.
