Au Media Final Paper

8/9/2019 Au Media Final Paper

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Sara EisenMAS104

15 June 2012

Major Essay

Question: How can advertising campaigns appeal to a sense of Australianness? Illustrate your

argument with reference to at least one advertising campaign.

Every human feels the need to be a part of a larger community. Benedict Anderson

(2006) explains that one of the ways a nation can define itself is by the fact that it is like no other

nation. Australian culture is uniquely Australian and like no other culture. The media and

advertising have been able to give people a sense of belonging to a community by portraying

images that are uniquely Australian that no other nation would understand simply because they

are not part of the community. Australianness is generally defined as the display of Australian

culture. For the purposes of this essay, I will specifically be defining Australianness in terms of

the “ocker” Australian. The Macquarie Dictionary defines the term ocker as the typical, white

Australian male who is boorish, uncouth, and working class. For this essay, I will be focusing on

ads shown on television. I will be using the Fosters “I Believe” television campaign in order to

depict how the specifically ocker Australian culture comes through in Australian ads. This

campaign starts off by poking fun at stereotypes of Australia. It then goes on to show pictures of

iconic Australian landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Ayers Rock. The

commercial ends with the announcer saying, “I believe the world is round, and down under is on

top” and then later, “Australians brew the best beer on Earth. Cheers”. By using my research of

Australian advertisements I will be able to further explain how this commercial appeals to this

sense of Australianness that I discussed previously. In this essay, I will be showing the ways in


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which advertising appeals to a sense of this particular Australianness through the use of

masculinity, animals, and humor in television commercials.

One of the most significant ways in which Australianness is portrayed in advertisements

is by showing masculinity. The ocker image was evolved by the late 1970s. Robert Crawford

(2007) defines the ocker as a “self-satisfied vulgarian, a beer-sodden slob uncouth in behavior

and thought, an ignorant bigot opposed to anybody unlike himself… spending his time and

money in the pubs and giving no thought to the morrow, a grunting pig” (pp. 2). This image led

to a popular culture that celebrates masculinity and excessive beer drinking. Men are more likely

than women to be portrayed as the “carriers” of Australianness. They are the ones who are more

likely to show national identity in Australian television advertisements (Hogan 2005, pp. 198).

So what is the reason that masculinity is used so much in advertisements to portray this sense of

Australianness? Kirby (2003) explains that there is an almost permanent nostalgic association

between Australian nationalism, masculinity, and drinking beer (pp. 254). Some may say that

this trinity has somewhat faded, but the advertising industry, specifically beer advertisements,

still references it to appeal to that sense of nostalgia and traditional Australianness. Paul Hogan,

a comedian and then actor and one of the most famous ockers, helped developed this image

through his advertisements for Australian tourism. He was the one who first coined the phrase

“G’day” which is now known worldwide for its Australian connotation (Crawford 2007, pp. 7).

The “I Believe” commercial for Fosters starts off with the announcer saying “G’day”. Right from

the beginning, this advertisement appeals to a sense of Australianness by using a greeting that is

known around the world to be an ocker Australian phrase. Ockers have a sort of language that no

one else would be able to understand. Advertising companies use this exclusive language to

make the viewers of the advertisements feel like they are in on something that no one else will


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understand. This refers back to the point that Anderson made about the imagined communities,

saying that one of the ways a community is formed is because they are unique to any other. The

portrayal of the masculine ocker in advertisements, especially beer advertisements, gives people

a sense of belonging because they understand the link between beer and masculinity and no one

outside the community can comprehend that.

Animals are often used in Australian advertising to depict the Ocker Australian. This

image comes from the repetitive viewing of animals such as crocodiles, kangaroos, and koalas in

the media. One of the most well known roots of the connection between animals and

Australianness is Crocodile Dundee. This film became iconic to the Australian culture. The

image of a man wrestling with a crocodile became a representation of Australian males. This was

later reinforced when Steve Irwin became well known around the world for finding and handling

deadly animals in Australia (Lang 2010, pp. 6). The film, Australia, also reinforces the imagery

of animals that are specific to Australia, starting off with the kangaroos that are shown within the

first ten minutes of the film. Advertising agencies use this association to their advantage by using

the animals in their thirty-second time slot to make it known that whatever they are selling in that

advertisement is Australian. In addition to that, many advertisements use animals as a way to

show masculinity, which relates back to the ocker image to which I have been referring. There

were advertisements for Bundaberg Rum that portrayed a bear that was seen by the rest of the

Australians as “one of the guys.” This explicitly shows the connection between masculinity and

animals. By repeatedly showing “dangerous” animals in the context of actually being a man,

such as the Bundaberg bear, it is appealing to this sense of masculinity that the ocker Australian

feels. When watching one of these commercials, an Australian who can relate to this ocker

culture would see the animal and be reminded of connection he or she has to Australia and that


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masculine feeling it give him or her. It is the repeated images of these animals that make them

iconic to Australia (Lang, pp. 8). There is a strong connection between feeling a sense of

nationalism and the popular culture of that nation (Prideaux 2009, pp. 617). When Australian

people see an image that has often come up in their popular culture, they are bound to feel that

sense of Australianness. The fact that these animals have become iconic give people the feeling

that they are solely an Australian entity and that they are a part of no other culture.

Advertisements appeal to a sense of Australianness by giving them that sense of familiarity. The

same animals that show up in the movies they grew up watching or the advertisements they saw

when they were children are the animals that are still coming up in advertising campaigns today.

Referring back to the “I Believe” campaign, the first two images shown are that of a kangaroo

and a crocodile. There is an instant appeal to a sense of Australianness because for so long, these

animals have represented Australian culture.

Another factor of Australian culture that advertisers use in their campaigns is the

uniquely Australian sense of humor. Identification with humor depends on how simple or

complex the humorous image is. We will not necessarily identify with a simple form of humor

because simple jokes cross national borders. However, with more complexity, “cultural

familiarity and hence identification become more necessary to seeing something as funny”

(Moran, pp. 110). When advertisements use humor, they are using a more complex humor that

Australians can look at and feel as though they are in on it because no one from outsides of the

community would be able to relate it to their own lives. Lang gives a few examples of how

“inside jokes” are used in advertising. She uses examples such as the Drop Bear advertisement

for Bundaberg Rum. It is to say that only Australians would understand what is going on and

tourists would not be in on this joke. Using humor that no one else will understand makes the


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Australian viewers of these advertisements feel as though they are a part of something (pp. 5). It

appeals to the viewer’s sense of Australianness because the fact that they understand the humor

is a link between them and everyone else in that community who understands as well. Dorothy

Jones (1993) discusses what Australian humor is and where it is rooted. She says that traditional

Australian humor is strongly linked to national myths. Her article references Benedict Anderson

saying, “Nations are conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship despite actual inequalities and

exploitation prevailing within them.” Australian humor is full of irony and wit that is intended to

mock the class system and challenge British hegemony. However, in addition to this, it reveals a

bit of exclusiveness and xenophobia (Jones). Australian humor, especially in the ocker culture,

thrives off of the fact that they are an exclusive nation and that no one else will understand it. In

the beginning of the “I Believe” campaign, the announcer makes jokes saying that he does not

own a kangaroo for a pet and that he does not wrestle crocodiles. Here, the advertisers are

making a joke out of the ignorance of the rest of the world saying that no one understands that

the stereotypes are not true, but as Australians, the viewers are in on what actually goes on here.

Using sarcasm and exclusiveness, the advertisers make the consumers feel as though they are in

on this joke of which no other nation could take part.

As Prideaux put it, “every day we are reminded that we belong to a nation through

routine occurrences including using passports, the language of political speakers, the media and

academia” (pp. 617). Advertisers use the symbols that remind people of these every day

happenings to give the viewers a sense of nationalism. In this essay, I have discussed what the

Ocker culture is and how advertisers use certain factors in their campaigns to appeal to a sense of

Australianness. The three factors that seemed to be best to prove this point are masculinity,

animals, and humor. The term ocker refers to the white male Australian who is crude, narrow-


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minded, and most importantly, masculine. Advertisers take advantage of this appeal and show

very masculine images in their campaigns. Many beer advertisements use this ocker “mateship”

in their campaigns such as the Fosters campaign I discussed. One of the ways that advertisers

portray this masculinity is by showing images of animals that are iconic to Australia. Other

advertisements use these iconic animals to trigger a nostalgic response. Australians have been

seeing these animals in the media for years and now seeing them gives them that sense of

Australianness that makes them feel like they are part of the imagined community of the

Australian nation. Finally, one of the most distinguished attributes of the ocker is his sense of

humor. Hearing a joke that any Australian would understand but may not be understood by

anyone outside Australia gives people that sense of belonging. These three factors used in

advertising campaigns appeal to the viewers’ sense of Australianness because they are reminders

of this ocker image that they grew up seeing in advertisements, television shows, and movies.

Seeing such distinct icons in advertisements and hearing certain jokes made, the viewers feel like

they are a part of the community that is exclusively Australian. It gives them the same feeling as

hearing Men at Work’s 80s rock lyrics “I come from a land down under, where beer does flow

and men chunder.” It may not be the quintessential patriotism, but it is still makes them chuckle

being reminded of their culture, and it gives them the feeling of being part of the community.


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Works Cited

Anderson, B 2006, ‘Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism’,

Verso: London; New York , pp. 9-46.

C085612 2006, The Red Sock – Bundaberg classic ad with Bundy bear , online video, viewed 19

April 2012, .

Crawford, R 2007, ‘”Anyhow… Where d’yer get it, mate?” Ockerdom in adland Australia’,

Journal of Australian Studies, no. 90, pp. 1-15.

Hogan, J 2005, ‘Gender, ethnicity and national identity in Australian and Japanese television

advertisements’, National Identities, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 193-211.

Jones, D 1993, ‘Edgy laughter: Women and Australian humour’, Austtralian Literary Studies,

vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 161-168.

Kirby, D 2003, ‘Beer, glorious beer: Gender politics and Australian popular culture’, Journal of

Popular Culture, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 244-256.

Lang, A 2010, ‘Troping the masculine: Australian animals, the nation, and the popular

imagination’, Antipodes, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 5-10.

Moran, C 2010, ‘Regional Identity and Humour’, Rural Society, vol. 20, pp. 101-114.

Prideaux, J 2009, ‘Consuming icons: Nationalism and advertising in Australia’, Nations and

Nationalism, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 616-635.

Thedundedain 2006, Fosters “I Believe”, online video, viewed 19 April 2012,

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