The Lamb Ad is like Christmas for adland folks, save for Christmas itself, of course. This year, Droga5 has created a very, very funny instalment of the longstanding Summer campaign for Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA).
Directed by Max Barden from The Sweetshop, the film was created with real Australian comments sourced from online platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Facebook and YouTube.
As one might expect, Raygun (though unnamed makes an appearance) as does an innocuous cuppa to a jacked Artificial Intelligence Kochie. With these seemingly unimportant things dividing the nation, Sam Kekovich appears in the distance, clutching the tongs and manning a barbecue to remind Australians that when we “get out of the comments and into the cutlets,” we’re a kinder more united country.
The first campaign to be released by Accenture Song’s newly renamed Droga5 ANZ, the ad is accompanied by a bespoke 15” and OOH campaign that uses real comments about the ad, both good and bad, to drive people to watch the full film online.
The ad premieres during the evening news of Seven and Nine today, followed by a national media campaign rolled out by UM across BVOD, SVOD, YouTube, cinema, paid social and retail OOH. Havas’ One Green Bean driving reach across earned media and owned social.
General manager for marketing and insights at MLA, Nathan Low, said: “When you delve into the world of online commentary, it would leave you thinking Aussies are at each other’s throats, no matter how trivial the topic. But in real life, Aussies don’t treat each other like that. The Summer Lamb campaign is an irreverent reminder that Australians are always at our best when we’re united, and there’s no better way to bring everyone together than over an epic Aussie lamb BBQ.”
Tara Ford, chief creative officer at Droga5 Australia added: “The online world has been dividing the real world more than ever, so silencing the comments sections with Australian Lamb is the brand at its fearless, topical, irreverent best. Hopefully it gets people commenting in person over a cutlet or two.”
Previous Lamb Ads
Last year’s Lamb Ad took aim at the generational differences that divide Australia. Millennials, Gen Z, Boomers and Gen Xers all discussed the flaws of each other, before being united by the inexorable unifying force of a good lamb cutlet.
Scott Dettrick, then-creative director at what was The Monkeys and now national ECD at M&C Saatchi said: “With growing differences in wealth, opinions, and ways of communication, the generation gap in Australia has never been wider. The various frustrations this year have each generation throwing tropes around, looking for someone to blame. When you scratch beneath the surface though, it’s attitudes, not age, that divide us.
“Maybe if we just got around a lamb BBQ and had a chat, we might find out that grandad is actually pretty cool, or all that stuff millennials know can be really useful. Our entire creative process this year was a fun generational debate, and with multi-generational directors and editors on the films, it was all very method”.
The year before, the Lamb Ad went after the notion of being ‘Un-Australian’ a word that had infected the political and cultural discourse of the nation.
Graeme Yardy, domestic market manager at MLA said: “The use of “Un-Australian” has got out of control, everything from how you eat your pie to having a wedding on Grand Final day is on the chopping block. Chances are you’ll be viewed as “Un-Australian” by someone!”
“What makes Australia great is that we celebrate our differences. Lamb is famous for bringing Aussies together, so what better way to cut through this division and help us come together over these collective differences than with a good lamb BBQ.”
The 2017 Lamb Ad was a pretty special effort.
Though we reckon that 2007’s might be the best.
Campaign Credits:
Client: Meat & Livestock Australia
General Manager – Marketing and Insights: Nathan Low
Strategic Marketing Operations Manager: Jeffrey Ng
Brand Manager – Lamb: Derek Lau
Creative Agency: Droga5 ANZ, part of Accenture Song
Production Company: The Sweetshop
Director: Max Barden
Editor: Joe Morris
Finish: Alt VFX
Audio Production & Music Supervision: Massive Music
Sound Designer: Simon Kane
Music Composition: Massive Music
Media Agency: UM
PR and Social Agency: One Green Bean
Social Listening: Kinesso
