Australian Tourist Ad Banned in Britain

Professor MacJakeProfessor MacJake
edited March 2006 in General
Australia's "So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?" Tourist Ad Banned in Britain
CANBERRA (Reuters) - The country that gave the world such risque comic acts as Benny Hill, the Two Ronnies and Little Britain has banned Australia's new "bloody hell" tourism ads from television because they are too rude.

Australian Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said Britain had banned the television ads, which end with a bikini-clad woman on a beach asking "so where the bloody hell are you?," although the ads would still be seen in British cinemas and appear in print.

"The regulators have clearly misplaced their sense of humor..." Bailey said in a statement Thursday.

She said she had written to Britain's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell, to have the television ban overturned. Meanwhile, censored ads would run in their place.

But Tourism Australia was unfazed by the British TV ban, welcoming it as unexpected publicity for the campaign.

"It's a bit of a PR dream," Tourism Australia managing director Scott Morrison told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

"This is a great opportunity to really promote the campaign. We'll be driving people to the Internet like there's no tomorrow," he said. The ads are the centerpiece of a A$180 million ($133 million) campaign to lure tourists to Australia. The campaign, which is already running in the United States and New Zealand, will also target China, Japan, India and Germany as well as Britain.

http://www.wherethebloodyhellareyou.com/

Comments

  • HamelinHamelin
    edited March 2006
    What the hell is wrong with the Brits? That's hardly offensive at all.
  • CytrollCytroll
    edited March 2006
    What the hell, we've had far more "offensive" adverts shown than that, someone somewhere needs a good kick up the arse for being so bloody sensitive.
  • KhanFusionKhanFusion
    edited March 2006
    Isn't this particular use of the adjective "bloody" synonomous/analogous with the adjective "fucking" used here in the US?
  • CytrollCytroll
    edited March 2006
    I'm not entirely sure what you're asking Khan as I'm not totally sure how the adjective "fucking" is used in the US.
    In regards to bloody being used as an expletive in Britain it's mostly regarded as very minor a lot of people say it and it appears a fair amount in entertainment and the media, ranging from programmes gear towards adults to things aimed at kids, for example "bloody hell" is used in Harry Potter quite a number of times and I think it's used in the same sort of context as the advert though I'm not 100% sure on that.
    For them to ban an advert for the casual remark of "Where the bloody hell are you?", not even said with any malice or spite or whatever but actually said in a lighthearted way, is in my mind being over sensitive and petty.

    Also, I need to practice my grammar.
  • BehemothBehemoth
    edited March 2006
    Cytroll wrote:
    I'm not entirely sure what you're asking Khan as I'm not totally sure how the adjective "fucking" is used in the US.

    http://www.funnypics.cc/media/history_of_the_f-word.php

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuck
  • ApathyApathy
    edited March 2006
    When I was still living in England 'bloody' was barely a swear word at all.

    Hell, 'fuck' was on the way out as well. It's virtually just verbal punctuation.
  • mittensmittens
    edited March 2006
    "What is it we do?"
    "We talk about the meaning of life. We also say "fuck" a lot."
    "Fucking life!"
  • godgod
    edited March 2006
    holy fuck, monty python audio

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