I thought I’d start with this witty lamb-gag headline just to prove that there’s at least one meaty, little gem that hasn’t been exploited after 8 years of Sam Kekovich Australia Day lamb campaigns. I will do my best not to go there again in this article, but I make no promises.
In truth, even as I begin tapping on my keyboard I’m not exactly sure where I sit on the hotly debated topic of whether the campaign has indeed been done to death, and if this latest installment has been a good move. Usually, a judgment of whether I reckon something is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ comes much more easily. But on this occasion I find my instincts a tad blurred. I think the only way I can give a reasonable critique here is to comment on the two parts of the 2012 campaign separately.
2012 Sam’s Address to the Nation
I got a couple of giggles out of watching this. Not as many as previous years, and certainly not as funny as 2005. But it’s a cleverly written, solid campaign extension with good topical content, and unashamedly coercive lamb advertising. I think what else is clever is the fact that although I didn’t really WANT to watch it I felt I HAD to watch it just to see where the campaign went this year. It feels like a tradition. An obligation! Dare I say it would feel un-Australian not to watch it. And that, folks, is a powerful advertising idea!
With all that said, clearly ideas have an expiry date. And obviously the folks at lamb headquarters and the agency could sense that, thus the sideways step into creating an accompanying film clip… Barbie girl.
My first reaction; What a truly fu%&ing annoying song the original Barbie Girl was and always will be. The melody and pitch hurts parts of my middle ear that have remained undisturbed since Fran Drescher was on TV! Seriously, why would you parody such a widely disliked song? Oh that’s right, it has ‘Barbie’ in the chorus.
In the first 10 seconds I could feel my right eye twitching uncomfortably, but once again I felt compelled to ‘be Australian’ and give it a go and watch all three tantalizing minutes. Some of the lyrics are actually pretty clever, there are some funny moments, and the production values are indisputably good. Clearly no expense was spared. (No wonder lamb cutlets cost $35/kg!) But for me, the disappointment in the film clip is what I self-diagnosed as an inescapable sense of cringe worthiness as an Aussie. I actually found it quite embarrassing, even as a comical representation of our country and the people that make up our census. The images had an overriding feeling of Hollywood trash crossed with Gold Coast boozing bogans. Please Lord, tell me that’s not really us. Please!
I don’t like it and neither do most people I’ve asked. It’s something about the choice of the song mainly, but also the people and culture (or rather, lack of culture), in the clip. It all just feels a little to close to home as the ‘Australia’ I don’t want us to be. But sadly, I feel the great unwashed will lap it up as a wonderfully articulated expression of what it means to be Australian. Like a Southern Cross tattoo on one’s neck.
You know it makes sense. I’m Nick Ikonomou.
To give some context, here’s every annual installment of Sam’s national speech that I could pinch off YouTube:
Nick Ikonomou is a Creative Director at BCM
yeah, completely agree. just didn’t quite pull off the parody and ended up feeling laboured and cringe-worthy. Another thing that really didn’t seem to chime was how out of character and uncomfortable Sam looked. His whole schtick has always been an unapologetic down-to-earth, straight-shooting, unpretentiousness; and this whole thing couldn’t possibly be more diametrically opposed to that tone and message.
Great post Nick!
Yes I think that the ad concept this year was pretty poor, not only did it feel like they were scraping the bottom of the barrel but I think even their brand message, like a lamb chop left out in the sun, was a bit off!
Jokes aside, one of the things that I noticed this year, which could even be seen as a departure from their core brand message is that the issues they were talking about in themselves weren’t particularly “Australian”. One of the best things about the earlier ads was that it made references to Australianisms like thongs as things you put on your feet, John Howard going for a brisk morning walk in his trackies, backyard cricket etc.
But this year they were talking about American celebrities and what was un-Australian about the way they conducted themselves – but who cares? As an Australian I couldn’t care less if Lady Gaga or Kim Kardashian doesn’t act Australian, because, frankly, they’re not. So there was that disconnect that I felt was a bit off-brand.
I also agree with Nick and Jesse in that the barbie girl video did have maybe 1 or 2 funny lines, but overall the delivery of the parody was laboured and painful about 2 minutes longer than it should have been. I also agree with Nick in that the choice of song was dismal and that just because there is a similar word in the name of the song that doesn’t mean they should use it!! But sadly I think they followed this train of thought even when writing the lyrics to the song to include vaguely relevant concepts to bbqs (dress it up, take your time, make the coleslaw????)(chill the beer, move the chairs, fold the napkins????) I think they really dropped the ball on that one!
I also think that if they were going to go with the vocoder to electronically synth up the vocals from Keckovich and barbie they should have really gone a bit bolder – lmfao style http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ6zr6kCPj8 or like Daft Punk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGBhQbmPwH8&ob=av2e
Anyway, the whole campaign seemed a bit off-key this year so they probably would have had better luck if they had tried to get 250 000 facebook votes to save Keckovich!
P.S. I know this is a bit off-topic, but speaking about saving louie the fly, has anyone else noticed that on the Save Louie the Fly’s facebook page, Moretein has actually listed him as an ‘Athlete’ ?? wtf? And why does he have like links to anti-binge drinking and anti-drink-driving?? (https://www.facebook.com/louiethefly#!/pages/Save-Louie-The-Fly/278340568874833)
I agree Nick. The Australia Day Lamb campaign is eagerly awaited, event advertising.
When you say, “Please Lord, tell me that’s not really us” I’ll resist the temptation to respond with a diatribe about the Barbie video reflecting the disturbing Americanisation of Australian culture where ‘cool’ is equated with how desperately you demonstrate a wish to have been born in LA. You can’t help but wonder if there are better ways to use Sam’s uniquely Australian qualities.
Whatever the case, the latest campaign is pretty harmless light relief. As always the response at point of purchase will determine how successful the new approach has been. If nothing else it will be a travesty if Chop Gun BBQ apron sales don’t go through the roof!