Tonight leaders of the Australian creative industry gather at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney for the Advertising Federation of Australia’s annual general meeting and celebration of fifty years of television advertising in Australia. There will be a presentation of thirty iconic Australian ads, chosen by representatives of the advertising industry here. There will be an opportunity to bring that list down to the top ten.
I’ve only been in Australia since 2001 so I haven’t seen a lot of these ads. So you Australians might have to help me out here. What are the classics you remember? Here’s the top thirty, in no particular order.
Holeproof – Antz Pantz ‘Sic ‘em Rex’
Winfield – Anyhow (Paul Hogan)
World Series Cricket – C’mon Aussie
Holeproof – Computer Socks
Decore. The jingle used is a parody of a classic Gene Chandler doo-wop hit “Duke Of Earl” which they adapted to this commercial as “Dec-or-e. Click on the image below to play the video in YouTube (HD)
Dunlop Aircraft Carrier ad shows an EA Falcon landing on an aircraft carrier in 1992.
Department of Health AIDS awareness – Grim Reaper
Kraft – Happy Little Vegemites
Harper’s Bazaar – Beauty
Harpers Cat Chow
Tooheys – How Do You Feel?
Qantas – I Still Call Australia Home
Lamb Roast – Tom Cruise (with Naomi Watts)
Life. Be In It. (1970s Government PSA featuring Norm)
AMLC – Lifeboat
Mortein – Louie the Fly
OTC – Memories
Mercedes-Benz – Crash
Coamas (Australian milk authorities) Milkman
Castrol – Oils Ain’t Oils
Tourism Australia – Shrimp On The Barbie (Paul Hogan)
Stainmaster (Sir Les Patterson or Pro Hart?)
Holeproof – Underdaks
VB (Victoria Bitter) – Original
Crown Corning – Vision Saucepans
Tourism Australia – So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?
Meadow Lea – You Ought To Be Congratulated
Does anyone recall the words to the Prosser Power Ad set to Mozarts Rondo Alla Turko. It ended ” all my pistons came at once, when I found Prosser Power. ” maybe late 70′s or early ’80s?
Hi Jenny
You’ve helped answer my question (what Mozart piece was it?!), so I’ll help with what I remember, which has always stuck in my head:
In 15 days they fixed my car
I sing their praises in the shower
All my pistons came at once
when I found Prosser Power.
I used to know more -- if it pops back in my head I’ll come back!
Thanks
Beth
Just wondering if you knew where I could find that political ad “It’s a typical Aussie morning”
It was either done in the late 1970′s or 1980.
regards
Peter
Here you go my friend….I remember it well. “Have a Go”. A Channel 10 network production, would you believe. Performed by The Mojo Singers.
Cheers Greg
“It’s a typical Aussie morning
On a typical Aussie day
And I love this place I was born in
In a typical Aussie way
But I’d sure hate to lose that sunshine
And I feel that it’s slipping away
We’re going to have to wake up sometime
That everything is not OK
Lets all climb that mountain,
That’s what mountains are for,
Lets all stand up and be counted,
So we can do what’s worth working for,
‘Ave a go
You can do it,
‘Ave a go,
You’ll come through it,
It’s how we got the country started,
Boots and all and not half-hearted”…
Enter Search ‘Have A Go (Australian ad) 1970s into Youtube
Was written by Alan Morris and Alan Johnston .. founders of Mojo Advertising ..
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can anyone remember the Mary Louise ads of the 1960′s
We all hated Mary Louise
Can anyone remember the ad (& provide a link) to the ad that showed two little girls in the schoolyard. One opened up her homemade snack and chattered on about it “My mum….etc”and the second girl let her speak and then opened up her lunch box and took out the brand name snack and said “My Mum has a life” It was a brilliant ad & it was pretty sad when they took it off & then amended it because it wasn’t PC
Cheers
Pat
Could some1 tell me were I could find the add in 2004, it was about a woman who had lifted her mans legs an she pushin him back an forward like a Hoover, thanks
Does anybody remember the animation ad from the 1980′s with these characters running around on the backs of others? It was about greed?
Anyone know where I can find this ad [I think a few people have asked about it].
It was an ad for The Natural Gas Company [could be Integral], I know it was shown in Australia sometime between 1988 -- 1992.
Anyway, the ad features a cat sitting on a windowsill outside a closed window at night. The cat jumps off and the doorbell rings. We see someone go to answer it. The cat is sitting there and speaks the line “Who closed the window hmm”?
Anyone seen this? Please let me know.
Let me know if you find out as I loved that ad! we still talk about it at home! lol
I loved that ad so much I got the cat (a British blue) after waiting 27 years and I love him. Please let me know if you find the ad, I would love to see it again. We still talk about it after all these years.
isn’t it funny how we do remember parts of adds but not all of it, my one i can’t remember fully is ” at the devine school of ballet when you abbonden yourself to the music strange and wonderful things start to happen” this is a large man doing ballet stretches against a lounge. now the question what was it advertising so i can get a link or find thanks.
“At the Devine School of Ballet we believe in beauty, poise and grace. As you abandon yourself to the music, strange and wonderful things happen.”
This was an Australian advert for the Yellow Pages (there was a string of them remember the “Not happy Jan!” -- and of course in the yellow pages his business appeared as the “Divine School of Ballet”
Great advert! Tragically I also cannot find it anywhere
does anyone have a copy of the Nestle Chokito candy bar ad featuring the hush group(chokito really gets you going)
Does anyone remember an ad in the eightys/ninetys that had a dog answering quiz questions -- one about the kyber and the dog answered pass.
Can you tell me the product and if you know where the ad can be seen
Im looking for the details of the ad of 2 cowboys walk in to a bar and order a schooner of milk, and the bar maid says ” that will keep you going all night”. As I wasn’t around when this ad was on tv I don’t know any of the details. So any information to help locate this ad would be much appreciated.
Thanks
I also want this ad!
I’m looking for an ad from 1999 or 2000. It was a TV ad for the AFL where a groom is left waiting in the church while the bride is at the footy. If anyone knows where I can find this ad I would be grateful! Post here if so!
Does anyone know if I can view the Mobil Anti-Wear commercial online? About 1970s..theme sung to Roger Miller’s ” King of the Road “. Great ad!
thanks , Isy
I’m not Australian, but I lived in Australia from 1982 to 1986. I don’t whether it says to the quality of the ads in the 80s, or specifically Australian ads, but I still recall at least half of these ads; and mind you, I was only six or seven years old during that time. Couple of others -- Lipton’s “Everybody’s Jiggling”, Tooheys, Taranga Zoo, the jingles to which pop into my head at various times. There is one ad I’ve been trying to trace, don’t know whether anyone can help me -- it was a cricket ad, whether for the Ashes, or the World Cup -- where it starts out with convicts who then transition into cricketers, like the ball and chain into a cricket ball, something else into the cricket bat…like I said, I was pretty small at the time, and that’s all I seem to remember, but I really liked it even then.
Hi,
Hoping someone can help… Am looking for a few FORD ads, early or mid 2000, ‘you’d be popular too if you were a ford dealer’ theme. There is one where a dealer hitches a ride, another catches a bus. Does anyone remember (and have the clips)?
Thanks so much!
Does anyone remember an ad for a refrigerator with fabulous classical music…it was a long time ago!
Does anyone have a link for the “typing centre” ad -- “my name is Judy Suiter, and I have the best most interesting job in the world!”?
The one I remember went, “I’m Judy Suitor. After eight hours I’m typing twenty words a minute -- it’s the only way!” then a voiceover, “Television Typing Centre, T&G Building, 313145.” But then, I’m from Brisbane, and yours may have been different.
I am looking for the ad for Williams Shoes 1970′s. The jingle was “Jeepers Creepers where’d you get those sneakers” I am trying to find this ad for my friend Wayne. He and his twin brother were the 2 children used in the ad.
Hi
Trying to find a Snappy Tom Cat Commercial
Megs and Sp otty
They are sitting on the edge of a jetty, fishing. One asks the other “Is this the edge of the World?”
The end lines I remember as “I Want Snappy Tom all the Time”
Thanks
Rina
Can anyone remember an ad in the 70′s that featured a harried mum in the kitchen, I think , and she yells out “Jeffery!, You savage”!
Help me!! An ad from the mid 70s, 2 people meeting talking about Rose and cray all steamy and hot, and a nice something with a sauce chevron. Its driving me MAD!!
Around the mid to late 90′s an Aus t.v network featured an insurance ad. Main character was a claymation lizard. It’s a fast paced ad where the lizard is seen to be arguing with & yelling at “barry” on the phone, with lizards euro sports car in the background. Suddenly something goes wrong and lizards car get’s squashed! he’s then heard to say….”I’ll get back to ya’ barry!”. Where oh’ where can I find it?
I’m looking for a 1980′s advert for natural gas where there is a gas burner but the flames are actually dancers in blue body suits. The slogan was “gas obeys you” or something similar. Anyone remember this?
Yes Alan,that was a brilliant ad.It first appeared in the lead-up to winter in 1979,and I recall slightly different versions being used over maybe the next 2 or 3 years.The theme you are recalling is “The flame that will obey” -- a tagline which the gas company had used for years prior to 1979.
Here you go!!
Would love a copy of this if you have found it -- my friend was one of the flames!
Thanks Rick. I always remember it as a very classy advert.
I know this is an old post but I’d like to see that Gas advert but it’s coming up “The video is private”, has it been removed or am I missing something?, thanks heaps
No worries, found it on youtube, search for “AGL flame girls”
It was shown here in NZ, in Auckland for NZ Natural Gas, exact same ad