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So where the bloody hell are you?


So where the bloody hell are you? is a A$180 million advertising campaign launched in 2006 by Tourism Australia created by the Sydney office of the London advertising agency M&C Saatchi.

The advertisements feature Australians preparing for visitors to their country. It begins in an Outback pub with the barkeeper saying, "We've poured you a beer". Further imagery to a similar effect is then shown, including a young boy on the beach saying, "We've got the sharks out of the pool," and partygoers watching Sydney harbour fireworks saying, "We've turned on the lights". The commercial ends with bikini-clad model Lara Bingle at Fingal Spit stepping out of the ocean and asking, "So where the bloody hell are you?"

The campaign received extensive press coverage, but it was soon deemed a failure and withdrawn.

The advertising campaign caused controversy in March 2007 when it was banned by the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre in the United Kingdom, which would not allow the word "bloody" in television versions of the commercial. Following lobbying by Tourism Australia, including a visit to the UK by Australia's tourism minister Fran Bailey and Lara Bingle, the ban was lifted, although a 9pm "watershed" was imposed on television commercials in May.

In March 2007, the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK ordered the removal of roadside billboards bearing the slogan. The ASA stated that it had received 32 complaints and warned Tourism Australia to refrain from using profanity in future billboards. Tourism minister Fran Bailey responded:


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