They're a weird mob

I just watched this ad on TV. "Where the bloody hell are you?".

It interests me how Australia presents itself to the world - any country for that matter. My thesis is about nation branding. While I appreciate the clarity of positioning for a mass market and the commercial does a very good job of it, it also reinforces stereotypes and cliches. Along the way it commits the sin of omission - real cultural diversity is ignored as is a sense of reality. In a way it is a mirror image of the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign - and almost every other nation brand advertising campaign.

Having worked on the Australian Tourism account it also interests me that the strategy for the campaign before this one was based on the premise that Australia had become a bromide - too well known to the extent that visitors felt they had done everything that there was on offer; the theme imposed by Canberra was 'See Australia in a new light'

Maybe after a while you can't fight the narratives you have constructed over a long period of time. I wonder how Nino Culotta feels about it all?

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