This year’s annual Meat and Livestock Association ‘You never Lamb alone’ ad is the smartest, most entertaining and powerful ad yet.
In fact it’s so thought provoking that it begs the question on wether it could actually become an ad for Tourism Australia too?
In many ways it already is given the amount of shares it’s getting across the internet right now.
It has as the saying goes ‘gone viral’. Big time. All over the world. And mostly for free.
Why? Well for starters, like any great ad it has the viral pre-requisites of being entertaining, memorable and funny.
But what’s really clever about it is that it breaks down Australia’s biggest social challenges of diversity and acceptance and flips them on their head to show this country as the multi-cultural paradise we probably all (well some of us) wish it was and could be.
In an era when the rest of the world often looks at Australia from afar and sees racist undertones, human rights violations, our treatment of refugees, ‘boat people’ and Indian students to name but a few minority groups deemed ‘unwelcome’ by our society, it could be our best chance yet of painting a much more colourful and real vision of who we really are and where we all actually came from in the first place.
It could also help educate overseas visitors on why more of them should come and say g’day too. Because actually – as most of us would agree, everyone is welcome here.
Of course the ad has already had its critics and will continue to do so with opinions divided and suggestions of only stereotyping further and dramatising an incorrect story.
The ad doesn’t even mention Australia Day either which is also a major (smart) point to note. But again, that’s why it’s so great because it will stimulate debate.
I personally dig this ad for so many positive reasons and would love to see its themes follow through to Tourism Australia somehow. Looking at the amount of buzz it’s generated already online too – there’s plenty more people who think the same.
I’m not sure it’ll help sell more Lamb, but it actually doesn’t matter really does it?
What matters is that this ad has already got people talking about today’s Australian society and what’s great about it and what’s missing. Which has to be a great outcome for any Australian and future generations in the long run.
Remember the 2002 ‘I am, you are. We are Australian’ ad? In many ways, this year’s Lamb ad is on the same path.