Unveiled earlier this year to the trade press in Sydney, pundits claimed the latest campaign from Tourism Australia (TA) would be difficult to translate into other languages -- primarily because of cultural differences. In addition, the tagline 'So where the bloody hell are you?' is a particularly Australian way of phrasing a question that holds little relevance in key TA markets like Japan and Korea.
The murmurings snowballed and by the time of the campaign's unveiling in the UK, it was a veritable firestorm of controversy, with British television regulators banning the ad over the use of the word 'bloody'. Australia's tourism minister, Fran Bailey, flew to the UK and lobbied successfully to have the ban overturned.
In Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation imposed restrictions on airing the ad in family programming slots, not over the use of the word 'bloody', but the word 'hell'. In the US, family groups complained about the use of both words. In Asia, more than a few people were left scratching their heads over the tagline.
But some of the more learned industry watchers are marvelling at the brilliance of TA chiefs. What was initially nothing more than a well-shot, slightly cheeky ad, featuring the regular array of shots of Australia's landscapes and icons, evolved into arguably one of the most successful PR campaigns in recent times, although perhaps accidentally.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard went on record defending the TA push. Even British PM Tony Blair, in Australia following the launch of the ad, remarked at a state lunch: "And here I am in the Australian parliament building at what I think is something like four o'clock in the morning in the UK. And so I'm thinking, so where the bloody hell am I?"
TA's campaign also sparked a plethora of spoof ads, blogs and forums. The end result, however, will be in how many potential visitors pay attention, and end up travelling to Australia. Once the final numbers are known, it will be clear whether TA heads will be regarded as brilliant tacticians, or misguided chiefs.
