Crikey! Bloody Poms!

UK lifts ban on ‘bloody’ ad campaign
Saturday Mar 18 15:55 AEDT

Australia’s “Where the bloody hell are you?” tourism advertising campaign is back on UK television after regulators lifted a ban on the word “bloody”.

The ad was pulled last week after the Britain’s Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) objected to the adjective.

But its ban in fact gave a huge boost for the $180 million campaign with millions dollars worth of free publicity.

Tourism Minister Fran Bailey announced the lifting of the ban after a hurried trip to London where she lobbied the BACC, the UK Minister for Tourism and Creative Industries and the Chairman of the Advertising Standard Authority.

“I am pleased that common sense prevailed and the regulators realised the campaign was intended to be cheeky, friendly and very Australian,” Ms Bailey said.

She said the fight to return the ad to British TV had been a tough as the authorities had to be convinced no-one would be offended.

“I provided … about a million pounds worth of research in the UK market (which) showed the British really got the ad, they thought it was funny and they understood the Australian sense of humour and they didn’t find it offensive at all,” she told reporters.

Ms Bailey said the ad was part of a sustained campaign to convince tourists who had already identified Australia as somewhere they would like to visit, that it was time to go – now.

“This is a campaign that will run three to five years, … and the test of the campaign will be in 12 to 18 months time to look at not just the number of tourists who are coming but how much they’re spending.”

The ban had applied only to television advertisements. Print, online and cinema campaigns were free to use “bloody”.

The BACC currently lists “bloody” as its 27th ranked most offensive word, behind “crap” and just ahead of “God”.

Other words on the BACC’s current banned list include bastard (6th), bollocks (8th), bugger (21st), sodding (24th) and Jesus Christ (25th).

The tourism campaign, launched three weeks ago, features natural Australian icons such as beaches, the Great Barrier Reef, the outback, Sydney Harbour and Uluru.

The ads end with bikini-clad model Laura Bingle, who accompanied Ms Bailey to London, saying: “We’ve saved you a spot on the beach – so where the bloody hell are you?”

Australian Tourism Export Council managing director Matthew Hingerty described the controversy as a storm in a teacup.

But he said it had done more to raise awareness of the campaign than the tourism industry could possibly have paid for.

“Now the ban has been lifted … it is time to get on with the job of selling Australia,” Mr Hingerty said.

Meanwhile Victorian Premier Steve Bracks hailed the development with his own use of the vernacular.

“That’s good news. That’s bloody good news,” he told reporters outside Melbourne Museum.

“There was a bit of oversensitivity. This was tongue-in-cheek, really.

“It’s just one those things you say when you say ‘gee, that’s bloody good’.

“I’m glad they’ve backed down. I’m glad they’re not as sensitive as we thought they were.”

©AAP 2006

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