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QUIRKY AD: "Old Mate" Is Back In South Australia, This Time With Friends

Did you catch South Australian Tourism Commission's poignant new ad yet? It tells the story of ‘Old Mate’ who put off going to Adelaide and South Australia for too long.

Did you catch South Australian Tourism Commission’s poignant new ad yet? It tells the story of ‘Old Mate’ who put off going to Adelaide and South Australia for too long.

He didn’t visit until he was too old and then regretted it. The ad which you can watch below shows ‘Old Mate’ with a tear in his eye as he watches the young people enjoy all the vibrant activities on offer in the city and the state.

It has made quite the impact along with its cheeky tagline “Don’t feel sorry for old mate, It’s his own damn fault he didn’t visit Adelaide sooner”.

The ad certainly made an impression, generating over 650 articles and reaching 10.59 million Australians.

The highest 2 days of domestic web traffic to southaustralia.com were also recorded on the weekend of the 7-8 September.

Tourism Tasmania even waded in this week, creating a parody ad in response which you can check out below.

But it looks like things have gotten better for old mate with the South Australian Tourism Commission releasing a happier follow-up ad.

The new clip shows Old Mate strutting through the airport with his friends to the classic hit of “The Boys are Back in Town”.

Old Mate shows his friends around South Australia, including the d’Arenberg Cube, Sellicks beach, Adelaide’s city laneways and urban beaches.

The clever campaign is in response to market research that shows that despite Adelaide being a “rising destination” there are still many people who have put off coming to Adelaide and South Australia to “one day”, or its “on the bucket list”.

Could this be the push Aussies need to get themselves to South Australia?