OT: New Aussie Tourism Campaign Strikes Controversy

[dean]

In the interests of current news events and gauging international opinion, I thought I'd start this thread just to hear people's opinions.

Basically we are having a little hiccup selling the country overseas it seems.  Our new international ad campaign is attracting a little bit of heat from censorship boards.  The Slogan: "So where the bloody hell are you?"

Here's some articles which hopefully contain more information on reasons and whatnot:

Holidays to Swear By

The Canadian angle:Canadians get to see those "bloody" Australian ads

The tourism minister's opinion: Tourism minister defends 'where the bloody hell are you' slogan

Or haveAnother perspective from an Aussie


Basically these ads [I'll have to look an see if there's an online version around somewhere] were banned [but not anymore] in Britain, for the word 'Bloody' and partially banned in Canada for the use of 'Hell' and now, it seems, for showing people drinking unlabelled beer [though one wonders why that's such a big issue].

Of course now our American campaign is starting and we're getting in trouble again...

I find the whole thing incredibly funny, and so do most people here, since most of us don't think it's that big a deal, and also that some of the tourism people are idiots for coming up with it in the first place, or 'bloody' geniuses for getting all the free publicity, but I'd like to gauge international opinion on the matter here just to see what you guys think, in hilarity or seriousness, about this whole thing.

Oh and here's a link to the ad:

The Advert

[a friend just sent me a copy of a funny parody of it entitled 'get your f&@^ing arse over here, but I don't know how to post it, and you kind of have to know what's going on in Australia to get it anyways.]

[plan9superfan]

The thing is, Australians (as well as British) don't say "f**king", they say "bloody".

Sao saying "Where the bloody hell are you?" in Australia is the equivalent of saying "Where the f**king hell are you?" in America.

[trekgeezer]

Hey plan9, Dean is Australian so I think he has a little more knowledge than you about what Australians say and what they mean when they say it.

[Ash]

Trust me plan9...I've been to OZ...(Australia)

"Bloody" does NOT mean the same as "f**king".
At least that's not how I took it with them.
Spend enough time with an Aussie...or hang out with a whole group and listen and talk to them...you can tell the difference.

I do admit it was awkward at first with the slang and all.
But everytime someone would throw out a word or phrase I hadn't heard of, I'd ask what it meant and they would always tell me.

[raj]

I've read some circa WWI British books, and they wrote things like l___sy  for lousy.  I guess calling something lousy, as in full of lice, was also taboo.

As I get CBC, I'm looking forward to these bloody commercials.

[2xSlick]

Aussie may or may not say "f**king", but they sure as hell don't substitue "bloody" for it. I've never heard the phraise "Blood off" or "Blood you" before. Eww, I came up with a nasty Bloody phrase but will refrain from posting it in the essence of good tastes.

[dean]

Hey plan9, in a sense I guess it probably started out as a substitute for f**king when it first was used, but that would have been a while ago, and now the impact of using it has dulled, and the use has changed a heap since then methinks.

See, most of us don't consider it a problem using the word bloody anymore [though perhaps there are limits to good taste] and people consider it 'the great Australian adjective' but I would like to see how it is regarded by people from other countries.

Language is fun!

[AndyC]

Seems like the slogan should be popular with younger adults out for a good time, who I would imagine to be the most lucrative tourists. They're the ones ready to spend the time and money partying it up. The people who will be offended certainly aren't.

And it fits with Australia's popular image, as kind of likeably rough around the edges.

I imagine it will be well worth the money. The controversy will only help.

[trekgeezer]

 I always looked at "bloody" as a British centric version of "darn", although they do use the terms "bloody" and  damn together.

 Being from a southern state I am used to quite a few regional "colorful metaphors", such as "dad-gum-it"and "dag-nab-it".

I personally gravitate toward curses with the word s**t in them. "dip-s**t", "s**thead", "s**t for brains", "holy s**t!", etc.....

[raj]

Dean,
do Aussies use the phrase "bugger off"?  Or is that only in Britain.

[odinn7]

Dean...do Aussies really kill each other for gas?

[trekgeezer]

That would only be the really scary ones with mohawks and leather fetishes.

[odinn7]

trek_geezer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That would only be the really scary ones with
> mohawks and leather fetishes.
>
> --------------------------------
>
>


I understand.

[BoyScoutKevin]

This thread got me to thinking whether the British use the "F-word," and I remembered they do. At least, in their films, so I presume they do so in real life. Though, what makes their use of it interesting, is they say it with a different accent, than we do. As someone pointed out, when Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) says it in "Billy Elliot, it comes out more like "Fook***," than "Fuc####!"

And I know some of the Irish sure do. When we were touring Ireland, we pulled into a small seaside town in Ireland, for lunch, just when the local Catholic school let out for lunch as well. And when you walked the streets of the town, one heard "F-word this!" and "F-word that!" And this was not from the boys, but from the girls.

Which makes one wonder, whether the "F-word" is international in scope.

[AndyC]

The British word that fascinates me is "sod," which is, I believe, short for "sodomite." That would make it the same as calling somebody a bugger. But not only can you call someone a sod, you can tell him to sod off, or even to get out of the sodding pub. A versatile word that sounds funny as hell to people who aren't used to hearing it.

But then, the F-word has similarly taken on more than its basic meaning. People can f---, they can f--- off, they can be called a stupid f---. To be f---ed can be a good thing in the literal sense or a bad thing in the figurative sense. The word can also be substituted for other words to make common swears and curses even stronger. A popular one where I'm from is to exclaim "For f--k's sake!" using it in place of God or Christ. This makes no sense, but my friends said it quite a bit growing up.

This thread is really starting to drift.