One of the great things about Australian and European cultures is their willingness to embrace a completely open dialect about all aspects of sex and human sexuality.
Our country collectively shit its pants several years ago when Janet Jackson's nipple popped out of her stage costume for one second during the Superbowl, and people literally lined up to sue her for emotional distress. Are you fucking kidding me?
Meanwhile, I was living on Bondi Beach in Sydney at the time, and there wasn't a bikini top in sight. How 13 year-old boys go to the beach in Australia without adding a right angle to their abdomens is beyond me.
But thanks to the many fundamentalist Christian conservatives who somehow get to dictate what the moral values of U.S. citizens should be, we would never be able to see great commercials like this on our televisions. What's wrong with it? Absolutely nothing. It's a great commercial.
But if the U.S. fundamentalist Christian conservatives saw this Australian ad on American television, can you imagine the uproar? They'd drop their abortion clinic bombing instructions right into the holy water they were planning to throw on gay people.
Hey, not all Christian conservatives are like that :p
ReplyDeleteI actually think it's pretty tasteful, considering the opportunities to NOT be...
I know they aren't- thats why I said "fundamental" Christian conservatives- they ARE all like that lol.
ReplyDeleteAnd the beaver's so cute!
ReplyDeleteWhich one?
ReplyDeleteActually I remember there being issues with this ad in Australia. I have no problem with it and find it cute and imaginative. Keep up the posts I love them. I just showed my sister the telephone conversation post put up recently and she ran around showing all her friends later.
ReplyDeleteKira
haha! That's well done!
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ReplyDeleteDamn good ad! And the product is by Kotex--imagine!
ReplyDeleteNow the Victoria's Secret ads here in the US--I do think those are in poor taste, esp. when they run during a 8 or 9 pm show my 13 yr old son is watching. He might as well be watching a porno movie. And to think I try hard to screen the content of what he watches.
Amazing. I missed you Weasel!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was cute. I mean they could have made it much more obvious. When you are selling shit like that, what do you propose they do?
That was cute. Too bad we don't get to see it here in the Great Frozen North.
ReplyDeleteAww that's adorable! In an...interesting way...
ReplyDeleteand they never utter the word beaver once! i posted this vid too on my blog, its great.
ReplyDeletenice to see ya Weas.
Quotes like this one...
ReplyDeleteHow 13 year-old boys go to the beach in Australia without adding a right angle to their abdomens is beyond me.
...are the reason I totally love you, man. You're witty, snarky, and terribly clever; all good things.
You made my day.
Cute! I've always liked the European condom commercials too...
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought it was a marmot and I wondered why she was carrying her marmot down the street.
ReplyDeleteThen I got a big "Ah ha".... it's a BEAVER!!!!!!! And it's a big hairy beaver at that!!!!! lmao
I love being an Aussie :)
ReplyDeleteOhhhh, ha.... got me on that one, Weasel.
ReplyDeleteReading for comprehension is apparently something I only do with my students, not myself... :)
That was a riot! I think this is actually more family friendly than a lot of the commercials on American tv.
ReplyDeleteI don't think too many 5 year olds would get the punchline (hell, took me a few seconds!). Compare that to the in-your-face sexuality of the Axe ads that say if you use this body spray, women will rip off your clothes, throw you to the ground, and start licking you.
BTW, body spray = PERFUME. Figure this out men! :P
And AXE smells like SHIT.
ReplyDeleteCute! I've always liked the European condom commercials too...
ReplyDelete~~~~~~~
BAAAAHAAAA! Great one, Fugs! Perhaps the Aussies could do a similar theme on the beaver one--a guy walking around, carrying a rooster under his arm...
Except we don't call it a Beaver in Australia we got that from you guys. We call it fanny (a bit different to you) or map of Tassie (Tasmania) - get out an Atlas and compare the shape.
ReplyDeleteWe still have heaps of 'moral crusaders' cracking the shits about this ad, even though it has now been cleared.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, you can't please everyone. Some people would prefer it if such products were dispensed under the counter at pharmacies, with the use of innocuous-sounding codewords!
I don't know what that ad is trying to sell, but I think my beaver wants one too!
ReplyDeleteOr at least a nice day out in the sun... preferably with spf 9000...
Totally agree, girlie bits make Americans nervous... And it IS probably related to male-centric religion.
Remember, there is a HUGE difference between religion and spirituality!
*raises hand* Christian conservative here, 'fundamentalist' by some standards. I rather like that ad. It's a tasteful and funny way of dealing with the subject matter, and will go right over the heads of any youngsters watching it. And as Robyn mentioned, this is WAY preferable to the tits & ass in many commercials.
ReplyDeleteThe fundies that I know who would object to this ad already don't watch TV. The people I expect would object to it are the ones who expect the TV to be a babysitter for their kids, and *think* they're being moral and a concerned parent and all that, but really just need to get off their fat asses and figure out how to raise their kids.
Okay, off the soap box. Yeah, I'm a fundie Christian who reads and heartily enjoys WWHM. Deal with it.
That was awesome. And someone please tell me why that would be worse than the current Charmin commercials with bears shitting in the woods?
ReplyDeleteLOL thats brilliant. No beating round the bush there ;)
ReplyDeletewww.gumbootsandjeans.blogspot.com
You have never heard of these ads before? I'm Australian, so it doesn't shock me. There were many different versions of these made. Hmm several months ago when at the movies, one of the ads at the begining was advertising those Ice Cold condoms. What would you Americans make of that?! I must say, it surprised me!
ReplyDeletelol Weasel, I'd say Axe smells more like a skunk that rolled in shit.
ReplyDeleteI went out w/ one fellow that wore that stinkin' stuff, and about gagged. I was like "what *is* that smell?" He says "It's Axe" with a raised eyebrow like that means something. I just said "oh"..and he says "well?" I said "well what?" He says "does it make you hot?" I said it's making me wish I'd brought my inhaler, that stuff is going to set off my asthma." (Note to anyone dating someone with asthma, perfumes and such can be a trigger for some folks!)
I honestly think he was waiting for me to throw him to the floor and rip his clothes off.
I think it's funny because when I was in Australia they would have primarily used a WOMBAT for that image.
ReplyDeleteI am Soo glad to see that someone else has a problem with the Charmin commercials!! Seriously....
ReplyDeletereminded me of the beer commercial they ran for a VERY short time up here that featured a bunch of Beavers, and touted the beer as an excellent beverage to imbibe during the act of "Chasing Beaver"
ReplyDeletelol! I loved this ad. Being as Aussie is so damn sweet in some regards.
ReplyDelete"Bugger" seems to still be a problem for Americans, too.
They run all kinds of risque commercials here that would never make it in the States. There's one recently for some discount carpet place that says "Do you want to get laid before Christmas?"
ReplyDeleteHere is another condom commercial that had me just rolling.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBr98Nji-mA
and this one is just too funny for words. I wonder when these will be on the market lol
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciQUSiCpaog
Great Blog Weasel, here is another ad that was on TV here in Australia a couple of years ago.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQzf2YqIH1I
Just watch the commercial again and notice that every woman there is carrying a beaver. There was an uproar over her about it - but I love it, a funny relaxed ad about tampons. Though I think one of the best tampon adds is for Johnson's cotton - bunch of workmen on site, one guy stops because he has cramps and all the guys offering advice to ease the pain etc.
ReplyDeleteI was exposed to the term beaver since it is an American one courtesy of The Naked Gun - "Nice beaver", "Thank you I just had it stuffed"
Do any Aussies here remember the 'Sic em', Rex" ad?
ReplyDeletehttp://au.youtube.com/watch?v=GU59Vq-nxjg&feature=related
I wonder how people in America would react to that ad?
Oh, I just remembered another ad;
ReplyDeletehttp://au.youtube.com/watch?v=yChInvz8gIg
It's for a restaurant XD
I don't get it - if vaginas aren't called "beavers" in Australia, why'd they use them?
ReplyDeleteThen again, David Morgan-Mar (the Irregular Webcomic guy) made the point that American culture is so pervasive that English speakers in other countries understand quite a lot of American slang and pop culture references.