So Where the Bloody Hell are You?

You might recognise this sheila, she's been fronting an ad campaign for Tourism Australia with the tagline "So where the bloody hell are you?". Frankly, this blog is drawing so many holiday enquiries that the tourist board ought to be paying me outright. Two more e-mails today, both making arrangements to visit. Better get working on the tan.

I read in the paper today that the billboard ads have been banned in the UK because they've been causing offence. Here's the Sydney Daily Telegraph's take on the matter:

Headline: "Tourism campaign ends up in dunny"

"Australia is about to unleash its secret weapon against those delicate Brits offended by the "Where the bloody hell are you?" tourism campaign.

Tourism minister Fran Bailey said yesterday she would dispatch larrikin Aussie toilet plumber Kenny - actor Shane Jacobson - to the UK with orders to sort out the Poms' offended sensibilities.

Following a small number of complaints from the British public, the UK Advertising Standards Authority ordered the Australian government to withdraw the use of the words "bloody hell" because they were deemed offensive. There were just 32 complaints about billboards in London, Glasgow and Birmingham.

"They've had 32 complaints out of a population of 60 million about a billboard - who can take that seriously?" Ms Bailey said. "Kenny is our secret weapon against these 32 people".

Jacobson - star of hit Aussie film Kenny - said it was time for the UK to get over it.

"It's a bit bloody rough, isn't it?" he said. "I'm going over there to find out where the bloody hell they are".

nb Dunny - "toilet"
Larrikin - "Australian folk tradition of irreverence, mockery of authority and
disregard for rigid norms of proprietry"