Page 45 - Adnews Magazine January 2022

“Hey ma, I told y’all Australia was real,” says an American, clearly deeply into conspiracy theories, in the TVC, Australian Lamb: The Lost Country of the Pacific. The 2022 lamb commercial, now a traditional part of the start of each new year, scored a direct hit on the longing nerve, to be free from COVID-19, to take our place
in the world again.
The satirical work by The Monkeys, part of Accenture Interactive, for Meat and
Livestock Australia (MLA), is dense with cultural references, news and current events. The TVC needs to be run several times to pick up all the digs at some of the absurd-
ities of the pandemic.
Everyone has their favourite lines. MLA domestic market manager Graeme Yardy: “You
can’t go past the closing shot of [Western Australia] Mark McGowan looking at ‘The Entire World’ [map] which is just WA — that’s definitely my favourite.
“There are various blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments so give it another watch and you’ll pick up something else I’m sure of it.”
The key narrative is rediscovering Australia. We’ve been isolated for so long the world forgot we existed.
Industry insiders say the commercial is more big screen entertainment rather than hard sell, a roast with all the trimmings rather than a plain barbecue. It grabs the audi-
ence and keeps them to the end, at which point many return to watch it again.
Does the commercial hit its target?
Yardy: “It plays a number of roles throughout the year. The Summer Lamb
Campaign is launched in January in order to boost lamb sales for summer-related activities such as barbecuing.
“But this recognition extends all through the year. It is now highly anticipated every summer and lamb producers feel a sense of pride in seeing their product cham- pioned in such a popular ad.
“Branding and recognition is one thing, but we need to act on the public’s awareness of Australian lamb. Alongside the Summer Lamb Campaign, we work with retailers to deliver bespoke marketing and lamb recipes directly to consumers as they enter their stores.”
Independent creative Adrian Elton: “How many ways can you chop the cutlet?
“Well, when it’s in the furry hands of The Monkeys, it would appear that the per- mutations are like a fractal mandala.
“In a spot that owes more to the silver screen than to the covidiot box, an annual tradition has been given another tremendous spin; deftly and hilariously summarising a year-in-the-life Down Under.
“Like a glorious lamb roast, festooned with cloves of garlic and rosemary, the ad is studded with a litany of political and pop cultural references that are completely on point. From a French nuclear submarine, to a surreptitiously placed video tape marked, ‘Trump Kompromat’, to the interstellar Elon [Musk]/Jeff [Bezos] bromance — each new viewing is punctuated by yet another delicious morsel.
“The premise is simple and so well observed. Ensconced in our isolated bubbles, we’ve forgotten the world, and the world’s forgotten us. Cue the big guns. Or Sam Kekovich who overcomes the ‘lambdemic’ with the ‘National Lamb Rollout’.
“Indeed, it’s a telling day when an ad offers the most thrilling watch of the year.”
Sally Joubert, CEO, Luma Research: “Gotta love the new lamb ad. After Christmas ads fade away, we always look forward to the release of the annual lamb ad and this year we are not disappointed.
“The Lost Country of the Pacific does a great job in getting our attention and making us feel even more positive about our national dish.
“Australians empathise with the idea of reuniting our beloved country with the rest of the world after such a long period of isolation. We want people to visit and enjoy our famous lamb barbies.
“Our creative testing shows that most of us loved the people, and the ad makes them feel good about Aussie lamb. And most of us liked the humour (although less so in WA). We also found that the ad is most effective with the over-45s, who find it more entertaining and want to keep watching over and over again.
“Congratulations to Meat and Livestock Australia on another memorable and com- pelling ad. Bring on the barbie!”
Michael Klaehn at QUT College: “This actually feels more like a tourism ad than a lamb ad at the start. Remember ‘Throw a shrimp on a barbie’?
“I liked the writing — lots of little and not so little details made it clever.
“I’m old enough to know the original ad with Sam, but I’m starting to wonder if a lot
WORDS BY
CHRIS PASH
Sam Kekovich in the 2022 lamb ad.
www.adnews.com.au | January-February2022 45