It’s official – MLA’s 2016 Australia Day ad has entered the history books as the most complained about advertisement in Aussie history.
The Meat & Livestock Australia campaign features a string of homegrown celebs, and embarks on a mission to bring them home for Australia Day, led by none other than all-round legend Lee Lin Chin.
But the vegans aren’t happy about the ‘Operation Boomerang’ ad created by The Monkeys, and since its launch just a few days ago, the complaints have absolutely flooded in, with the Advertising Standards Bureau confirming more than 500 recorded grievances.
https://youtu.be/7i15OPuFvmA
The main issue? Violence against vegans, apparently, most likely because during the mission to bring Aussies home, one of Lee Lin Chin’s squads completely torches a vegan’s house.
The ad has now racked up more complaints than the other most complained about ad from Ashley Madison that endorses cheating with over 400 complaints.
So in the spirit of anger and condemnation, we reached back into the archives to pull out some of Australia’s most complained about adverts of the past few years.
2015 Holden Australia’s “bloody caravaners” spot snagged 161 complaints.
https://youtu.be/RsyFziWOhQE
2014 – Ashley Madison and the pure garbage about looking for someone “other than my wife” – 481 complaints.
2013 – Tooheys Extra Dry with that one where a guy’s mouth detaches itself from him to have a chat – 66 complaints.
2012 – Johnson & Johnson for a mid-20’s woman talking about healthy vaginas and Carefree acti-fresh liners – 149 complaints.
2011 – Queensland Association for Health Communities goes to show homophobia is sadly still around, as this ad with two men hugging and advertising condoms with the tag ‘Rip & Roll’ scored 222 complaints.
2010 – Advanced Medical Institute with a man offering his erect penis as a step so a woman can get to the cookie jar above a cupboard nabbed 220 complaints.
