Tourism Australia launches four-minute tribute to ‘Australia’s unofficial anthem’
Tourism Australia and Qantas have teamed up with Icehouse singer Iva Davies to produce a four-minute video to mark the 30th anniversary of ‘Australia’s unofficial anthem’, Great Southern Land.
The film was made before Telstra’s Olympics ad, which featured another unofficial Australian anthem, Down Under by Men At Work – but after The Monkeys’ film for Sydney Opera House, which also features a succession of artists performing popular Aussie anthem Ship Song, by Nick Cave.
Great Southern Land, which was written while Davies was on a Qantas flight over central Australia in 1981, is performed in TA’s video by artists including Katie Noonan, Van She, Eskimo Joe, The Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Cut Copy.
Though made without involving TA’s ad agency, DDB Sydney, some of the footage in the video was taken from DDB’s most recent incarnation of the There’s Nothing Like Australia campaign, which cost $4m to produce.
It might be cliched…but I loved it..made me get goosebumps. Love an Anthem…an Aussie Anthem at that!!
Why wouldn’t it run on main media and actually generate some reach? The local tourism market is in dire straights and they are burning taxpayers money by not turning this into a call to action to get Aussies to holiday at home. Really, if it isn’t on mainstream media it’s a colossal wank.
Love it! Almost made be consider ditching my next OS trip to see more of Australia…almost
Fantastic song, and some great vision. However, I just don’t get it.
It seems like all the folk from DDB on the Telstra and Tourism Australia accounts walked into a planning meeting a few months back, watched the Ship Song online and said “Hey, we’ve got several million dollars, lets just do that. Its Social. It’s Digital”. We then get identikit strategies of “re-imagined”, iconic songs trying trying to leverage “social + digital”.
Getting a range of no-bodies to sing and posting it on Facebook doesn’t make it social. Distributing the video online only, doesn’t make it Digital. Its just a TVC without a media budget, being distributed through Facebook and YouTube.
I don’t know, maybe there are a lot of peeps at DDB who’ve had their fill with the industry and are keen to get into producing music videos. Much more of this, and I might join them.
Agree with Insider – if you’re going to TA’s facebok page you’re already planning on holidaying in OZ. Wasted.
I wanted this to be better than it was….so much potential with the song….but it didn’t deliver like it could’ve.
What a flippin great place this is!
I have to agree with Sue .. I loved it too! Goosebumps and all!… Have always loved the song! Makes me proud to say “I’m an Aussie”..
“Insider” – I agree, it should run on main media – However it is “out there” we all saw it on the WORLD wide web!
NO SURFING!? / Sports people… VERY un-Australian
I thought the unofficial anthem was “I am, you are, we are Australian”… but Great Southern land is awesome too! Either way we need a new anthem.
Very nice but not quite as emotionally stirring as:
“Down Under” for Telstra.
“The Ship Song Project” for the Sydney Opera House.
“I Still Call Australia Home” for Qantas.
To me these unofficial Anthems are becoming a bit cliched.
Having said that, it’s a shame John Williamson’s “True Blue” wasn’t used a few years ago for Virgin Blue.
More music video than ad for Australia targeted at tourists?
Are we expecting this sort of cliched, esoteric, introspective effort with an internationally little known track and lesser known artists to attract travelers with the Aussie dollar at an all time high…!!??
Added to which it is only on-line. Money to burn marketing I’m afraid. The proof of the pudding will be in the measured effect on tourism (not facebook likes). I suspect we won’t see a rush of Asian tourists after this one.
It shows how crap was the Tourism Australia’s $4m Agency produced ad was in contrast.
Great music like this gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.
Can we get our money back and just use this ?
This is what Qantas should have done!
Lots of emotional and proud to be living here in Australia.
Amazing footage – at first listen I thought the vocals were a bit of a distraction tho…. I’ll have another listen.
Seriously? Is DDB doing 2-for-1 deals on patriotic ads?
Have to agree with Eric and Disappointed. It would seem the TA folk suffer from quite a lazy approach to social media. Sharing a video is not nearly enough. And unsure a music video such as this addresses the real issues affecting travel for Australia (domestic and international market).
Sad if DDB classes this as ‘digital’, simply running a TVC online. There are so many great things they could have done that actually harnesses what digital enables. Maybe they don’t know how to…?
Oh dear. Sorry am I missing something? Where is the art in creating a mash up of 5D CUs of artists singing with Tourism Australia stock footage?? FAIL. There are so many talented directors and producers out there that DONT work for the trad production companies or agencies. Why not give them a crack at the junket that this clearly was, and get some decent content out of it.
Shame Tourism Australia, shame.