where the bloody hell are you?

They swear it will work...a scene from one of the ads that Tourism Australia officials hope will bring foreign tourists beating a path to the door.

Photo: Tourism Australia

Article SMH, 24 Feb 2006.

WE HAVE tried images of the rock, the reef and the bridge. We even threw shrimps on the barbie. Now it seems we have to swear at tourists in order to get them Down Under.

In a deliberate hark back to the successful Paul Hogan "Shrimp on the barbie" ads of the 1980s, a cheeky new campaign to promote Australia as a destination will issue a "uniquely Australian invitation to travel" with the words: "So where the bloody hell are you?"

The campaign forms the centrepiece of Tourism Australia's strategy to convert record awareness levels of Australia as a destination into actual visits and lift annual visitor numbers from the present 5.5 million a year to 9 million by 2014.

But even before the ads have gone to air abroad the of peak industry body is preparing for the fallout at home amid accusations that the campaign is a throwback to ockerism and will invoke widespread cultural cringe.

At yesterday's launch the Minister for Tourism, Fran Bailey, defended the use of the word bloody, rejecting the suggestion that visitors would it offensive. "This is a great Australian adjective. It's plain speaking and friendly. It is our vernacular."

The Prime Minister, John Howard, also defended it: "I think the style of the advertisement is anything but offensive. It is in the [right] context and I think it's a very effective ad."

But the Herald understands that in some Asian markets such as Malaysia and Singapore the words bloody and hell will be dropped and the ad will run with the innocuous "Where are you?"

Tourism Australia said the ad was well received by the 47,000 consumers it was tested on in seven key countries, particularly in Britain, and in Japan and China. "We've done our homework and we have researched it in all our major markets," Ms Bailey said. "We have really road tested the campaign and it works."

While the industry bodies Transport & Tourism Forum and the Australian Tourism Export Council gave the campaign a thumbs up, Australia's largest hotel group, Accor, expressed concerns that the line would be lost in translation.

Its spokesman, Peter Hook, welcomed the return of tourist icons such as Sydney Harbour to the ads but added: "Particularly in America, sometimes the wording can be seen in a different light. While we might understand the humour it might be lost on them."

The new campaign aims to make everyday Australians and the lifestyle they lead as much the heroes of the advertising as the landmarks such as Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney Harbour that form the backdrop. The film features scenes of everyday Australians - not actors - pulling schooners of beer, swimming on deserted beaches and walking camels.

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So what's the matter with the Singaporeans and Malaysians? There's nothing wrong with a bit of «appropriate» swearing, at least for me .... as if none of them ever cursed in their entire life, and I just don't buy it. And, really, in the right context, if it works, why bother? One may only hope this is not the impression imprinted to the rest of the world, that Malaysia and Singapore represent us as the face of the wholesome Asian puritanism, whatever that may entail.  Boh ... must have missed it when they all took up priesthood, eh!

Anyhooooow ... just don't get it when the State attempt to social police its people in an absurdly ludicrous way.

addendum: it may also be worth knowing that «bloody» is no longer considered a curse word in most parts of Angloworld. So get a bloody move on! I know I bloody will.

bloody macchiato

And for a sidenote, Austalia's tourism figure is pathetic, 5.5 million tourists per year, a mere trinkle of the global tourism, understandably owing to its isolated position and that non-desirable long hauls just to get to our shore. There's room improvement there: check this out, wikipedia says, Andorra, that tiny sovereignty in the Pyrenées, sandwiched between France and Spain, entertains anually a staggering nine million tourists. And that's just heaps, given the local population of merely 69 000 heads.