It was unveiled with great fanfare and expectation yesterday, however, the arrival of the latest lamb ad arguably hasn’t garnered the response either meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) or its creative agency, The Monkeys, would have been hoping for.

Sadly, the all-singing, all dancing-number has been widely panned in the press with many complaining it was too political, too complicated, off message, unfunny and too long. And far from selling any more lamb cutlets, it appears people are considering vegetarianism instead judging by most of the reaction to it on social media.

Speaking to B&T, The Monkeys CEO Mark Green denied that the ‘You Never Lamb Alone’ campaign message had run its course.

“The campaign been criticised over the years as much as it’s been admired and enjoyed, and the latest ad is no different,” he said.

“It’s always got its lovers and haters. It sparks a conversation, and I think by and large the latest ad’s pretty evenly split from what I’ve seen online. We’ll see how it travels.”

MLA’s chief marketing officer, Lisa Sharp, said the feedback feels very normal this stage of the campaign, and there are no plans to pitch the business.

“It’s on par with the feedback we’ve experienced in the past,” she told B&T.

“A real strength of our lamb marketing over the last 10 to 12 years has been that consistency around the brand positioning, and that being one of unity and inclusivity.

“All of our data is telling us that it has been incredibly successful for the brand, and at this point there would be no reason to walk away from that.

“We always review, but at this point we’re still feeling pretty confident that it is the right positioning for lamb.”

The ad is a West Side Story-inspired musical where duelling gangs chant “left” and “right” in front of a suburban mother. There’s even hints that the actors in the ad have been made up to look like Greens leader Richard Di Natale and right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. Even longtime lamb ad Sam Kekovich makes an appearance as an angry neighbour.

The MLA Twitter account claimed that the ad “inspires people to put aside their differences, big and small, and come together over lamb”.

As reported on B&T yesterday, the initial reaction from the public was largely negative with most comments saying the ad lacked a sense of fun, was too heavy on the political message, while people were unsure what it was supposed to be advertising.

However, the poor little lambs may well be saved with many people commenting the ad had turned them off meat and onto vegetarianism. Check out some of the social media bile below: