ANALYSIS: Advertising - Rural inspiration creates image divide down under. Carmakers' ad spots spark rural stereotypying fracas, reports Owen Hughes

<p>When Nissan rolled out its Turbo Patrol campaign in Australia, the </p><p>last thing it expected to do was to spark a heated debate over the use </p><p>of demeaning rural stereotypes. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But its portrayal of country folks - in the wake of successful campaigns </p><p>produced in the same vein by Toyota and other brands - has prompted a </p><p>scathing attack by an Australian regional agency boss, and attracted the </p><p>attention of a Member of Parliament. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Set in a country town, Nissan's TV spot shows a man exchanging greetings </p><p>with locals, each with the same contorted facial expression. The </p><p>normal-looking man steps into his Turbo Patrol to drive to his farm. </p><p>When he arrives at the farm, he too has the same expression as his </p><p>neighbours because of the supposed G-force effect created by the </p><p>powerful vehicle. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In Toyota's "Bugger" effort, characters on a farm utter the word each </p><p>time they perform tasks that end in disaster. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Australian bush - the vast hinterland that lies beyond the seaboard </p><p>and which has played an integral role in shaping the character and </p><p>legends of the nation - clearly inspires agencies and movie makers in </p><p>creating memorable celluloid characters, including Crocodile Dundee. Yet </p><p>the most striking thing to emerge about the bush in the 21st century is </p><p>that few Australians actually know much about it. The trend towards </p><p>bush-inspired advertising is actually happening in the wake of </p><p>increasing rural depopulation - 85 per cent of Australians now live in </p><p>urban and suburban areas. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>So do bush-inspired campaigns connect with the urban masses? "The </p><p>stereotype of the country bumpkin shows a complete ignorance of the </p><p>demographics of the country," says Australian MP Peter Andren, who </p><p>represents Calare in rural New South Wales. Rural dwellers living in </p><p>country towns may have jobs related to agriculture, but they are no </p><p>different to the average Australian in their aspirations and habits, he </p><p>says. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The agency boss who sparked the debate, Jack Moore, managing director of </p><p>Cook, Green and Moore in Victoria's country town of Bendigo, says the </p><p>Nissan campaign only reinforced demeaning images of the bush. Moore </p><p>believes that the complexities of life in rural areas have been obscured </p><p>by popular images of country people in Australian advertising. If the </p><p>same sort of caricatures were used to depict women and ethnic groups, </p><p>Moore believes there would be howls of protest from Australia's </p><p>cities. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"There is a view that the way to capture the hearts and minds of country </p><p>people is to whack someone in a silly hat and a checked shirt," he </p><p>says. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Predictably, Moore's views have found little support in the big cities, </p><p>where industry players have hailed the Nissan spot as one of </p><p>television's advertising highlights of the year, not only for the visual </p><p>images, but also for the way it strengthened the brand. Melbourne-based </p><p>Whybin TBWA & Partners, which created the Nissan spot, dismisses the </p><p>charge of rural stereotyping. Whybin director Roger O'Donnell comments: </p><p>"Nissan would not run an ad that denigrates its customers. The ad is </p><p>humorous; it is telling viewers that the Patrol delivers the power </p><p>proposition." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>David Ansell, chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi, the agency behind </p><p>Toyota's "Bugger", adds: "I don't think we should be creating a divide </p><p>where one does not exist. In broad terms, no one wants to alienate </p><p>country Australians. It is too significant a market. The aim of </p><p>advertising is to connect with people, whether they live in the city or </p><p>the bush." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Leo Burnett Melbourne executive creative director Shapoor Batliwalla </p><p>suggested that bush-inspired advertising needed to be seen in the </p><p>context of the industry's output as a whole. He questioned if the genre </p><p>was any more or less offensive than the bulk of TV advertising currently </p><p>is. "Is it any more stereotypical than urban youths with spiked hair and </p><p>safety pins in their noses, or dumb boys sitting in front of the TV in </p><p>the suburbs? It is an aspect of advertising that takes something and </p><p>exaggerates that aspect of the character." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>