Tourism Australia sends “Where the bloody hell are you?" the way of the "shrimp on the barbie”

A report by ABC says Lara Bingle in the “Where the bloody hell are you?” ad and the campaign has been dumped, going the way of the “shrimp on the barbie” – into the dustbin of advertising history.

It is two years since the Government unveiled the confrontational slogan to sledge people into coming to Australia, and now it is being dropped.

The $180 million campaign generated much publicity around the world but appears not to have generated any major increase in visitor numbers.

Tourism Australia is also set to review its contracts with advertising agencies as it opens one of the country’s largest advertising accounts to tender.

Everyone remembers Paul Hogan’s line, “come and say G’day, I’ll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for ya,” even if he last appeared in that ad nearly two decades ago.

Two years ago Tourism Australia thought they would hit upon a similarly memorable line.  It was memorable, but for all the wrong reasons, “So where the bloody hell are you?”

After $180 million and a lot of media airplay on the ad, including several spoofs on video website YouTube, “where the bloody hell are you?” is nearing its use-by-date.

Christopher Brown is managing director of the Tourism and Transport Forum lobby group.

“Where the bloody hell are you?’ has been a very controversial campaign, both good and bad controversy but controversial all the same,” he said.

“One wouldn’t be surprised that there’s a degree of consumer and political interest and media interest in this.”

“It’s about the only global brand campaign that Australia does anywhere; it is our message to the world and obviously Aussies, be it back 24 years ago today when the Paul Hogan campaign launched in America, right through to Lara Bingle, Australians are always going to take great interest in the message we send to the world.”

Mr Brown says while the TV ad campaign might change, Tourism Australia needs to be careful to keep its strategy and its message the same.

“That comprehensive link between our people in our land, that is still to this day intoxicating to the rest of the world,” he said.

“We want them here now – come here have some fun, drop some money, go home and we’re both richer for the experience.”

Selling the message of Australia requires money and Harold Mitchell, the executive chairman of the Mitchell Communication Group says the overall advertising budget for the Federal Government in the last year was just over $200 million.

“We’re yet to see what would happen to that figure, but it was a very high level, record high,” he said.

“It’s possible around the industry we’re hearing that it could well be halved, save $100 million from there.”

“But there are some very important issues within that which need to continue and there’s no doubt that tourism is one of them because that brings in the big dollars around the world.”

“Tourism is right up there as a need to do it and do it properly.”

Mr Mitchell says the “where the bloody hell are you?” campaign enjoyed mix success.

“In awareness, in some areas it was very good.”  “But it seems from everything that we see and hear from the industry that it was not strong enough to really go on from here,” he said.

A Report by the Mole from The ABC