Advertising in Australia
Oct. 31st, 2010 07:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deird1This post by vass reminded of something I've been meaning to discuss: Australian ads.
More specifically, the fact that Australian ads never ever change.
To start with, there's this one:
This is the Vegemite ad I grew up with.
Compare and contrast to this:
This is another Vegemite ad - composed of a whole bunch of Vegemite ads, over the space of several years.
Notice how the song never changes.
Most of the clips barely change either - they just get updated hairstyles.
And again, the song NEVER CHANGES.
Every Aussie in the country knows that song off by heart. Proof:
Once Aussies get onto a good song, we never look back.
Like Louie the Fly:
If you look up "Louie the Fly" on YouTube, you'll find about 15 different ads - and all of them have exactly the same song.
Then there's the Slip Slop Slap campaign:
Every Aussie who's watched tv could tell you that, in summer, you "slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen, and slap on a hat". Most of us are so used to the ad that the Skin Cancer Council just summarise with "remember to slip slop slap" and trust us to fill in the blanks.
Another one is the Cottee's Cordial ad:
Generation after generation, primary school kids have mischievously invented alternate lyrics ("My dad picks his nose..."), not realising that their teachers are listening and thinking "Oh, I remember doing that..."
Because we all grew up with the exact same ad - updated hairstyles notwithstanding.
The Aeroplane Jelly ad didn't even bother with updating the hairstyles:
I've seen Aeroplane Jelly ads my whole life. And every memory I have of them includes that little girl on the swing, with the bouncing ball over her words.
The Spray and Wipe ads aren't quite as consistent. Here's one:
Different lyrics to other S&W ads, but the tune's the same, the plot's almost the same, and it always ends with "Say thank you. Spray and Wipe!"
I could go on. With Tip-Top ("Good onya Mum! Tip-Top's the one!"), SaraLee ("Nobody doesn't like..."), and so forth. But this post is getting far too long, and I still haven't mentioned the quintessential Aussie ad:
This one is from ten years later:
EXACTLY THE SAME AD. They keep doing new versions of it, but it's always those kids in white, standing on monuments, singing that song.
(As dmmaus said, if you can watch those without tearing up, you are not Australian.)
And finally, to close off, I'd like to present you with an ad that has nothing to do with my once-we-find-a-song-we-keep-it-forever thesis, but is just too famous and too wonderfully Aussie to leave out:
Thank you. That is all.
vass reminded of something I've been meaning to discuss: Australian ads.More specifically, the fact that Australian ads never ever change.
To start with, there's this one:
This is the Vegemite ad I grew up with.
Compare and contrast to this:
This is another Vegemite ad - composed of a whole bunch of Vegemite ads, over the space of several years.
Notice how the song never changes.
Most of the clips barely change either - they just get updated hairstyles.
And again, the song NEVER CHANGES.
Every Aussie in the country knows that song off by heart. Proof:
Once Aussies get onto a good song, we never look back.
Like Louie the Fly:
If you look up "Louie the Fly" on YouTube, you'll find about 15 different ads - and all of them have exactly the same song.
Then there's the Slip Slop Slap campaign:
Every Aussie who's watched tv could tell you that, in summer, you "slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen, and slap on a hat". Most of us are so used to the ad that the Skin Cancer Council just summarise with "remember to slip slop slap" and trust us to fill in the blanks.
Another one is the Cottee's Cordial ad:
Generation after generation, primary school kids have mischievously invented alternate lyrics ("My dad picks his nose..."), not realising that their teachers are listening and thinking "Oh, I remember doing that..."
Because we all grew up with the exact same ad - updated hairstyles notwithstanding.
The Aeroplane Jelly ad didn't even bother with updating the hairstyles:
I've seen Aeroplane Jelly ads my whole life. And every memory I have of them includes that little girl on the swing, with the bouncing ball over her words.
The Spray and Wipe ads aren't quite as consistent. Here's one:
Different lyrics to other S&W ads, but the tune's the same, the plot's almost the same, and it always ends with "Say thank you. Spray and Wipe!"
I could go on. With Tip-Top ("Good onya Mum! Tip-Top's the one!"), SaraLee ("Nobody doesn't like..."), and so forth. But this post is getting far too long, and I still haven't mentioned the quintessential Aussie ad:
This one is from ten years later:
EXACTLY THE SAME AD. They keep doing new versions of it, but it's always those kids in white, standing on monuments, singing that song.
(As dmmaus said, if you can watch those without tearing up, you are not Australian.)
And finally, to close off, I'd like to present you with an ad that has nothing to do with my once-we-find-a-song-we-keep-it-forever thesis, but is just too famous and too wonderfully Aussie to leave out:
Thank you. That is all.
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Date: 2010-10-30 09:10 pm (UTC)Gabrielle
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Date: 2010-10-30 11:11 pm (UTC)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abt6wGtWVX8
Hmmm. I sense a post coming on...
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Date: 2010-10-30 11:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-31 12:41 am (UTC)Good heavens, I'm not Australian and they made *me* tear up. And want to go back to Australia (but honestly, it doesn't take much to do that... we loved it there).
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Date: 2010-10-31 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-31 02:57 am (UTC)We do have the "Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee" jingle over here in the States, too.
Vegemite straight out of the jar?!? *makes gagging noises*
...i guess i need to try that stuff again. someday.
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Date: 2010-10-31 04:20 am (UTC)One day I will say "Not Happy Jan" to someone who has no clue what I mean, but so far everyone I've said it to hasn't batted an eye. Kids who weren't even alive when that ad aired say "Not Happy Jan" now.
And I got really peeved when they changed it to "So thank you - AJAX spray and wipe" because it screwed up the scantion.
I also think you should include the "Grand Sale - Franco Cotso" ad in your "ad that has nothing to do with my once-we-find-a-song-we-keep-it-forever thesis, but is just too famous" category, because I love it and it's ridiculously well remembered.
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Date: 2010-10-31 11:39 pm (UTC)I got mad at them for changing the Spray and Wipe jingle, too. Very clumsy.
The fun thing about 'Not happy, Jan,' is that the ad aired just before I went to England. I think I'd seen it, like, once. But the phrase was a hit SO FAST.
GRAND SALE! GRAND SALE! MEGALO MEGALO MEGALO! GRANDE SVENLITA! and other intense Greek phrases that I don't know whatsoever... (hehehe)
Also, when did they stop having 'Which bank?' as the slogan?
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Date: 2010-11-01 10:37 am (UTC)