The 2022 lamb commercial, now a traditional part of the start of each new year, has scored a direct hit on the longing nerve, to be free from COVID, to take our place in the world again.
The satirical work by The Monkeys, part of Accenture Interactive, for Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), digs at some of the absurdities of the pandemic and places Australia back on the map after being isolated for so long the world had forgotten it existed.
Industry insiders say the commercial is more big screen entertainmen rather than hard sell, a roast with all the trimmings rather than a plain BBQ.
It grabs the audience and keeps them to the end, at which point many return to watch it again.
Does the commercial hit its target?
Graeme Yardy, Domestic Market Manager at MLA: "It plays a number of roles throughout the year. The Summer Lamb Campaign is launched in January in order to boost Lamb sales for summer-related activities like barbequing. But this recognition extends all through the year. It is now highly anticipated every summer and Lamb producers feel a sense of pride in seeing their product championed in such a popular ad.
"Branding and recognition is one thing, but we need to act on the public’s awareness of Australian Lamb. Alongside the Summer Lamb Campaign, we work with retailers to deliver bespoke marketing and Lamb recipes directly to consumers as they enter their stores."
Independent creative Adrian Elton: "How many ways can you chop the cutlet?
“Well when it’s in the furry hands of The Monkeys, it would appear that the permutations are like a fractal mandala.
“In a spot that owes more to the silver screen than to the covidiot box, an annual tradition has been given another tremendous spin; deftly and hilariously summarising a year-in-the-life down under.
“Like a glorious lamb roast, festooned with cloves of garlic and rosemary, the ad is studded with a litany of political and pop cultural references that are completely on point. From a French nuclear submarine, to a surreptitiously placed video tape marked, 'Trump Kompromat', to the interstellar Elon/Jeff bromance; each new viewing is punctuated by yet another delicious morsel.
“The premise is simple and so well observed. Ensconced in our isolated bubbles, we've forgotten the world, and the world's forgotten us. Cue the big guns. Or Sam Kekovich who overcomes the 'lambdemic' with the 'National Lamb Rollout'.
“Indeed, it's a telling day when an ad offers the most thrilling watch of the year."
Sally Joubert, CEO, Luma Research: “Gotta love the new lamb ad. After Christmas ads fade away we always look forward to the release of the annual lamb ad and this year we are not disappointed.
“‘The Lost Country of the Pacific’ does a great job in getting our attention and making us feel even more positive about our national dish.
“Australians empathise with the idea of reuniting our beloved country with the rest of the world after such a long period of isolation. We want people to visit and to enjoy our famous lamb barbies.
“Our creative testing shows that most of us loved the people and the ad makes them feel good about Aussie lamb. And most of us liked the humour (although less so in WA). We also found that the ad is most effective with the over 45s who find it more entertaining and want to keep watching over and over again.
“Congratulations to Meat and Livestock Australia on another memorable and compelling ad. Bring on the barbie!”
Michael Klaehn at QUT College: “This actually feels more like a tourism ad than a lamb ad at the start. Remember ‘throw a shrimp on a barbie’?
“I liked the writing, lots of little and not so little details made it clever.
“I’m old enough to know the original ad with Sam but I’m starting to wonder if a lot of people would still know who he is (sorry Sam). Maybe it’s time for an update, keeping the main idea of lamb saving the world/Australia but letting go a bit as well.”
Tom van Laer, associate professor of narratology, University of Sydney: “Meat & Livestock Australia’s summer lamb campaign uses a paradox, a figure of speech that arouses reflective thought.
“It is an apparent contradiction – that is, a combination of elements which seems illogical at first sight, but becomes more possible the more you think about it, as illustrated by the final conversation.”
Question: “I told you there was a whole world out there. So, where do you think you’ll go first?”
Reply: “I think I’ll stay here a little longer.”
He says the lamb ad’s primary function is to attract attention. The persuasion has to come from the subtext.
“The ad stimulates the viewer and makes them think,” says van Laer. “Yet because it is less directly persuasive than previous lamb ads, this year’s ad also summons up unintended associations and thoughts. The campaign therefore provides food for both the barbie and for thought.”
Sam Walters, General Manager, Consulting, Cubery: “MLA has succeeded in recent years by treating advertising as ‘sponsored entertainment’ — producing content that people actively want to engage with.
“Their approach has consistently leveraged two powerful drivers of advertising success: storytelling and humour. This year’s ad, like many before, finds harmless comedy in the current state of the nation.
“And while the MLA team likely wouldn’t have predicted where we’d now be compared to when the ad was initially conceived (e.g., meat supplies being stripped bare from supermarket shelves), if you do humour well and put a smile on people’s faces, they’ll generally overlook subtle insensitivities.”
Ptch doctor and AdNews columnist Greg (Sparrow) Graham: “Another brilliant lamb campaign from the MLA to celebrate Australia Day.
“This time of the year I look forward with anticipation how The Monkeys are going to unite Aussies around the BBQ with lamb.
“Another special campaign that captures a cultural moment and takes the piss out of this crazy pandemic. The intriguing stories are multi-layered with each engagement you can pick up on a funny detail you may have missed.
“Importantly the Australia Day story is diverse with realistic casting plus the lamb product is the hero. Sam helps glue the campaigns together over the years and I just crave a lamb chop every time I see the campaign.”
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