The latest billboard for Western Australian winemaker, Goundrey Wines has a striking resemblance to that of Marlboro Man cigarette advertisements first created by Leo Burnett in the 1950′s. One of the most successful advertising ever devised, it featured rugged cowboy imagery and the slogan of “Come to Marlboro Country“. The Goundrey billboard is unmistakable similar.

So why the heck would a Australian wine company use this type of advertising for white wine?

Theory 1: Goundrey used a Chinese advertising agency. China is notorious for copying other peoples products, intellectual property and even business methodology…so why not copy the advertising as well. Could it be that Goudrey is owned by the Chinese and the advertising was done in house? After all, the amount of Australian wine imported into China is only second to French wine.

Theory 2: This is a parody of Marlboro Man… and this guy ain’t so tough, in fact he might be gay! Do real men drink white wine..and the position of his hand and glass looks errr somewhat interesting. And since that movie, Brokeback Mountain (2006), well, the rugged cowboy stereotype can’t legitimately be used any more.

But laugh not, many modern adverts have the gay demographic in their sights, the pink dollar is an important market…could this be one of them? What do you think?

Weblinks:

• Goundrey Wines

Will Bogans Grab a Bud?

Good ol’ American red-neck beer, Budweiser otherwise known as Bud, is currently being promoted in Australia with a “Grab Some Buds” sign recently spotted.

Whilst Budweiser beer might be an institution in United States (and possibly Canada) it’s somewhat of a mystery here in Oz. Yes, we’ve heard the of this stuff, maybe even tried it when exploring the world of strange and exotic beers. Even more, there were strange references to a beer known as Fud in several episodes of The Simpsons, an alternative to Homer’s favourite beer, Duff. Whilst Homer was visiting a neighbouring county, the local barman said: “We don’t serve Duff here, we serve Fud!” I’m assuming this is parody of Bud.

You know, here in Oz the local Bogans have their own beer and the idea of people switching to an American beer seems unlikely. It’s sort of like replacing AFL with gridiron…if you know what I mean. Doesn’t the brand of beer you drink define your identity? Well, good luck to them…. and Lion Nathan.

NAB gets out bed with other banks…but for how long?

Well for years there was the suggestion that major Australian banks were in bed with each other…so I guess they finally acknowledged this, or at least NAB has. Well seems that like any relationship based on sex or money, things have gone sour!

Aussie bank giant National Australia Bank, has taken the bold step of paying (what?? paying? this is incredible!) the exit fees for those customers who switch their home loan to NAB. Appropriately (or perhaps inappropriately) this campaign was launched Valentines Day.

Shortly after, rival bed mate banker, Westpac announced they will “abolish” their exit fee. I like NAB’s description of “paying the exit fee” rather than Westpac’s of only abolishing the fee.

Sigh.. such is the life of a romantic bank.

Say, wasn’t the Federal Government moving to have these fees abolished anyway?

Weblinks:

• http://nab.com.au/breakup

Australian Ipad’s come complete with a pair legs.

If you’re not aware yet, Apple has finally released the Ipad onto the Australian market. Not that it needs anymore publicity,but Apple made sure everyone was aware of the Ipad by a series of bus shelter advertisements, in strategic locations. Which is apparently most suburbs.

At last! A chocolate bar that can talk about driving?

Nestle’ Australia latest promotion of the iconic chocolate bar Chokito has hit the streets with a somewhat confusing catch phrase of Chokito says NO NO NO.

Well, this makes sense once you see the accompanying  TV commercials, of which there are several. Check out the Chokito nightclub bouncer advert on Youtube which is somewhat  reminiscent of  ”Chasers War On Everything” sketches.

Nestea Billboard

However, someone took a disliking to the local Nestea billboard in the Sydney suburb of Glebe.

Crude, but mildly amusing.

Photo by jjprojects

The decadent claims of Apparella Dolce Cider.Will there will be a uproar over this? (hopefully)

Just kidding. Apparella Dolce Cider has put up these classy looking shopping centre advertisements claiming it’s made from apples so good who could blame Eve. Boy that’s some claim…

So this is how you sell alcohol to women. Compared this technique to typical beer adverts aimed at men.

Weblinks:

• The Cruiser Range

When there’s nothing to advertise on a billboard, the only thing left is to advertise the billboard itself, as seen in this above picture.

Photo by lutramania

Berocca has been trying hard to innovate it’s vitamin supplement tablets with this “Twist N Go” drink bottle. Turning the lid releases the tablet into the water below which then can be consumed. Presumably this means the drink can be consumed during the day rather than the traditional breakfast or night time schedule.

Panadol new formulation has been released onto the market. It has Opti Zorb!