Where The Bloody Hell Are You ad goes flat in Canada

The Canadians don’t have a problem with the language in the now infamous Australian “Where The Bloody Hell Are You?” – but they do have a problem with Aussie beer

I wrote recently about the Australian tourist board’s “Where The Bloody Hell Are You?” ad, which has been causing a bit of (needless) stir because of its use of the word “bloody”. Now things have got really weird. Reuters reports:

“Canada has vetoed a scene in a controversial Australian tourism campaign where a character lures visitors by saying “We’ve poured you a beer!”

Australian Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said Canadian regulators had now lost their sense of humour.

“Buying a mate a beer is about as Australian as you can get. But the Canadian regulator has banned the shot because implied unbranded alcohol consumption (a part-empty beer glass) is unacceptable,” Bailey said in a statement.

While Canada doesn’t appear to have a problem with the word “bloody”, it has also prevented the ad from being broadcast during two family programmes because of the word “hell”. [Full story]

It’s hard to believe people get paid to create such ludicrous situations. Still, the Australia Tourism board will have the last laugh. The controversy surrounding the ad has already created a huge amount of unexpected publicity for the country Down Under and this latest ridiculous decision will no doubt continue to do.

For the record, I think it’s a great ad – it summarises many of Australia’s best bits in 60 seconds flat and it even features a whale shark too…

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