Australia's newest tourism campaign has met with hostility in both Great Britain and Canada. While Britain took issue with the usage of the term "bloody hell", Canada took issue with half a glass of beer - and no, the problem was not that the glass was only half full.
The commercial depicts a number of Aussies speaking directly into the camera and saying such things as, "We've poured you a beer and we've had the camels shampooed, we've saved you a spot on the beach ... and we've got the sharks out of the pool." It ends with a woman in a bikini asking, "So where the bloody hell are you?".
While Canadian regulators will not show the ad during family programming because of the word "hell", it was the depiction of unbranded alcohol that got the commercial sliced and diced in the editing room. The irony, of course, is that while "
buying a mate a beer" is as Australian as you can get, drinking beer is as Canadian as one can get.
As we all know, there is nothing more Canadian than beer and the love of it. In fact, we, as a country, have gone so far as to define our
entire national identity on a beer campaign and our politicians have even been elected on the "
beer and popcorn" ticket. As such, it is nothing short of un-Canadian that the CRTC has banned the tourism commercial over half a glass of beer - and free beer at that! As penance, the CRTC should foot the bill at the country's next national kegger.
The commercial in question can be
found here.
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