DIARY: An Aussie guide to good taste in ads

<p>Across the Asia-Pacific region, we all look to our cousins down </p><p>under for lessons in how to make our advertising as tasteful and </p><p>sensitive as possible. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Take, for instance, this charming example of the adman's art, lovingly </p><p>crafted by JWT's Melbourne office. The delightful gentleman pictured is </p><p>none other than "Chopper" Read, a notorious Australian former hitman </p><p>(although, we would like to add, in the interests of not being sued, he </p><p>was never convicted for murder). Chopper, we are informed, got his </p><p>unique nickname when he removed part of his own ears in prison. Well, </p><p>you can understand that - it gets boring in there. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Apparently Chopper, who has now paid his debt to society and lives in </p><p>Tasmania (some would say prison is preferable) has become something of a </p><p>media celeb, not to mention a best-selling author. In addition to a </p><p>series of crime novels, he has also written a highly-successful </p><p>autobiography, which was made into a hit film (the imaginatively-titled </p><p>"Chopper"). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>So, who better to give American sunglasses brand Black Flys an </p><p>appropriately, er, edgy feel? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Not that the Australian media has taken particularly kindly to the </p><p>campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Talk radio DJs are up in arms ("This is a disgrace!" spluttered </p><p>breakfast talk show host Derryn Hinch). There's been an almighty furore </p><p>in the national press. All this, of course,came as a complete shock to </p><p>Black Flys and JWT, who were mortified at all the negative publicity, </p><p>and weren't at all interested in the PR value they could extract from it </p><p>- oh no, definitely not. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>There is a heartwarming conclusion to all this, of course, because </p><p>Chopper has donated the fee he earned from appearing in the ad to a </p><p>children's hospital. Makes you proud to be alive, doesn't it (or at </p><p>least grateful that you are). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Oh, and the other upshot is that Chopper has been offered more ad work - </p><p>this time a road safety campaign for the New South Wales Government. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The mind boggles ... </p><p><BR><BR> </p>