Melbourne & Advertising

An insight into what advertising communicates about the city of Melbourne.

>> Melbourne Postcard Lauren Vadnjal

This popular tourist keepsake, the ‘postcard’, was one of plethora of cards and keepsakes available in one of Swanston Street’s tourist-oriented souvenir stores. The shot of Melbourne ‘from the air’ was photographed by full-time panoramic photographer Jörg Heumüller, for Global Image Australia. It is an artefact not only of design, but of imminent advertising for the City of Melbourne. This picture and postcard will be sent to countries around the world, and indeed it acts as an international presentation and encapsulation of the city. The panoramic representation of Melbourne notably includes the heart of the CBD’s skyscrapers and buildings, with the sport and entertainment precincts of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Rod Laver Arena. These structures are surrounded, and indeed juxtaposed, by the lush, green areas of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Yarra and Olympic Parks, and also the vein of the Yarra River. The aerial view has allowed the photographer to encapsulate not just one aspect of Melbourne, but a wide cross-section of its environments in one image. To pick up this postcard, one may see an aesthetic reproduction of the city. But, this explicit juxtaposition of greenery and structure is a reflection of the way that Melbourne is sometimes viewed, and certainly the image that the City Council aims to portray. For the concrete urban landscape is balanced with rich parkland and versatile gardens. It is a large part of the city’s character, and this is so reiterated in the City of Melbourne’s commitment to green environmental sustainability and open space in their Growing Green report (2003). The proactive plan aims to sustain an environmentally healthy Melbourne leading up to the year 2050. The Council recognises the contribution of numerous green spaces, parks, gardens and boulevards in Melbourne’s identity, economy and social and habitual environments. This inherently reflects the utter importance that the council place on the need for a verdant urban Melbourne. The magnitude that is placed on upholding a ‘leafy’ city adumbrates just how the council have come to use this concept of a ‘garden city’ to identify Melbourne and communicate its “aesthetically harmonic” (City of Melbourne 2003, p. 17) atmosphere both domestically and internationally. The parks and green spaces, however, do not provide merely an aesthetic value. As discovered through Anna Chiesura’s research on Amsterdam’s Vondelpark, 73% of people surveyed felt the need to visit the park to ‘relax’, with a strong number also motivated to ‘escape from the city’. This study was able to conclude that nature is able to compensate for the stress of daily (city) life and restore the psychological energy and equilibrium. It can fulfil immaterial human needs, a break from routine, a spiritual connection – all of which can contribute critically to the quality of a human life (2003). Other empirical research has also shown that urban parks can be extremely multi-faceted and utilised by different sections of the community with carrying values and cultures (Loukaitou-Sideris 1995). Parks provide a communal and free space that can be recognized and interpreted by a multitude of different ethnicities (both resident and tourists). The immense versatility and sustainability of the green spaces pictured on the postcard, along with the benefits to inner health and multicultural society is something that is continually advertised and represented with the city of Melbourne. Its aesthetic worth and ability to accommodate for many diverse communities has become a cornerstone for the city.

>> ANZ Chinatown Branch Advertisement Cara Jackson

This artefact is located at the entrance to Chinatown on Swanston Street. It is an advertisement for the ANZ Bank’s Chinatown Branch. It features a list of services offered by the bank branch in both English and Chinese writing. These services include Multi-lingual bank staff, international and foreign currency services and student accounts packages which are all services designed for immigrants and international students. The sign is in a state of disrepair, with pieces of being ripped from inside the buildings window. The artefact also features some graffiti located on the outside of the window. The artefact is located on the side of the building which faces into the decorative Chinatown entrance. I have chosen this artefact as it can be used to describe the nature of multiculturalism, the social relations between cultural and ethnic groups and how this is communicated in Melbourne City. The fact that the sign exists and that the banks of Melbourne have services such as those listed on the sign indicates that Melbourne has a large population of Asian immigrants and that their presence in Melbourne is noticed and

addressed in the advertising industry. Minority and cultural advertising are used by a variety of organisations around Melbourne. However, there are some elements that reflect different ideas of multiculturalism in Melbourne. Firstly, the torn sign shows that the bank, while providing these multi-lingual, services does not care to maintain their advertisement of them. This shows, to some extent, a lack of respect of this section of services provided by the bank. According to Sandy Gifford, a writer and social commentator for The Age in Melbourne, racism is a huge issue in Melbourne (Gifford 2009). Gifford, like many others believes that Australia still has a very racist undertone. The notion of a Chinatown bank branch can be used to illustrate this. There is segmentation of the city into various sections based on cultural ethnicity. Different sections of Melbourne and the surrounding suburbs often house different ethnic groups. This demonstrates the idea that in many cases there is not true acceptance of immigrants. Furthermore, the size and prominence of the English writing on the sign reflects the notion that English is the national language while still validating and endorsing Chinese as a language, which is commonly spoken here. The use of multi-lingual bank staff, as advertised on the artefact shows that organisations in Melbourne are now adopting ethnic politics and are seeking to help immigrants who are seen as disadvantaged (Castles et al. 1988). The use of Chinese and English writing on the sign depicts the use of cultural pluralism in Melbourne as it allows for the maintenance of ethnic identity. Ethnic politics is an attempt to help immigrants adapt to life in Australia through the use of initiatives such as “English as a Second language” programs in the education system. “Cultural Pluralism” is designed to celebrate cultural and ethnic diversity.

>> Victoria Bitter Jayson Patterson

Victoria Bitter (VB) is a popular and well-known beer brewed by Carlton & United Beverages. Who doesn’t enjoy a nice cold beer after a long days work or whilst having a night out? Alcohol is often given a very bad reputation. Warnings emerge that after consumption our livers will fail or we will drink, drive and die. This is most true yet there are also many positive effects such as feeling more relaxed, increased social skills and a zest for life. To drink a VB is to drink Australia. The “you beaut” quality of this beer is that not only does it allow one to casually lose their inhibitions but simultaneously it is an act which supports Australian industry and economy. The production, distribution and retail of VB provide multiple jobs in and around Melbourne. VB can be found in bars, pubs and clubs, at barbeques, down the beach, sporting events and often in the fridge at any given time. This is no surprise however. Jo Lindsay (2006) has found many Melbournians believe alcohol plays a big part in Melbourne’s identity; there is a most loving bond between alcohol and sport. One only needs to see the crowd slowly stagger as they walk home from the MCG to realise there is much appreciation for a beer whilst watching the game. Interpreting Victoria Bitter as a Communication Artefact can be linked in closely with the notion that the city of Melbourne is a 24-hour city. This view presents Melbourne as a hub for cutting edge nightlife filled with unique bars and clubs and funky places to play at during the night. Unfortunately, on the other hand, Melbourne has been given some bad press due to CBD violence and rowdy drunken behaviour, fights, gangs, drugs and general unacceptable shenanigans. This places alcohol in a situation where it often gets the blame for the downfall of Melbourne’s image. It has the highest market share of all beer within Australia and due to its popularity it is available not only in Australia, but also New Zealand, Bali, United Kingdom and other parts of the world. David Strug. (1997) study suggests that within any formation of a city what the people consume within their day to day lives will most certainly impact in the development of a place. There is no need for alarm however, as we are not always drunk, but this viewpoint could be seen as a link to the easy going stereotype that seems to serve around the ideals of this fine city.

REFERENCE LIST Castles, S, Cope, B, Kalantzis, M, and Morrissey, M, 1988 ‘The Bicentenary and the failure of Australian nationalism’ Race & Class, vol. 29: pp. 53 – 68, viewed 12 April 2010, Sage Publications. City of Melbourne 2003, Growing Green Environmental Sustainability Plan for the City of Melbourne’s Open Space and Recreational Facilities Final Report, viewed 6 April 2010, <http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/ParksandActivities/Parks/Documents/policies_growing_green.pdf> Chiesura, Anna 2004, ‘The role of urban parks for the sustainable city’, Landscape and Urban Planning, vol. 68, no. 1, pp. 129-138, viewed 11 April 2010, ScienceDirect. Fosters, VB The Drinking Beer | The Official Site for Victoria Bitter, Melbourne, Victoria, viewed 14 April 2010, < http://www.vb.com.au/ >. Gifford, S 2009 “Lifting the veil on our ingrained racism”, The Age June 13, 2009, viewed 12 April 2010 <http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/lifting-the-veil-on-our-ingrained-racism-20090612-c637.html>. Lindsay, Jo 2006, ‘A big night out in Melbourne: drinking as an enactment of class and gender’, Contemporary Drug Problems, 33(1), 29-61,1, retrieved April 15, 2010, from Research Library (Document ID: 1141283781). Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia 1995, ‘Urban Form and Social Context: Cultural Differentiation in the Uses of Urban Parks’, Journal of Planning Education and Research, vol. 14, no.2, pp. 89-102, viewed 14 April 2010, SAGE Publications. Strug., David 1997, ‘Cross-Cultural Approaches to the Study of Alcohol: An Interdisciplinary Study’, Michael W. Everett, Jack O. Waddell and Dwight B. Heath, Medical Anthropology Newsletter 9:1, 22-24, online publication date: 1-Dec-1997.