A star-studded Crocodile Dundee-themed commercial that aired
during the Super Bowl marked the launch of Tourism Australia's $27 million U.S.
marketing campaign, the largest amount ever spent by Australia on a single
overseas tourism market.
During the football game, viewers learned that a rumored
sequel of the '80s movie "Crocodile Dundee" entitled "Dundee: The
Son of a Legend Returns Home," is in fact not a sequel, but rather an
elaborate advertising campaign aimed at attracting more visitors to Australia.
The supposed sequel was presented as a buddy comedy that
features Danny McBride as Brian Dundee, the long-lost son of Mick Dundee (aka "Crocodile
Dundee"), played by Paul Hogan, and Chris Hemsworth as his sidekick, Wally
Jr. The all-Australian supporting cast included Hugh Jackman, Margot Robbie and
Russell Crowe, among others.
The teasers led viewers to believe that Mick Dundee was lost
in the outback, and Brian Dundee was returning to the Australian outback to
find his father. The 60-second commercial began as a typical movie trailer and
ultimately revealed itself to be a plug for Australia's destinations, food and
wine.
It is the biggest campaign Tourism Australia has run in the
U.S. since Hogan's "Come and Say G'Day" campaign in 1984.
The ad will be followed by a series of online films titled "Why
Australia?" that will live on Australia.com and will follow
Aussies Hemsworth, Curtis Stone, Matt Wright and Jessica Mauboy as they help
McBride plan an ideal Australian getaway.
According to Tourism Australia's managing director John O'Sullivan,
American visitors represent a significant tourism market for the country,
having spent $3.7 billion in Australia in the past 12 months. But, he noted, "Despite
rating highly in terms of aspiration and intention, we still have more work to
do when it comes to converting American interest in Australia into actual
visits. That's the challenge that this new campaign is seeking to address."
Lisa Ronson, Tourism Australia's chief marketing officer, said
that with more than 100 million viewers tuning in to the Super Bowl on Sunday,
the game offers "the largest reach of any advertising platform in the US ...
[and] many viewers are the high-yielding American traveler we specifically
target," she said.
Advertising agency Droga5 created the "Dundee"
campaign. Tourism Australia's global media services agency, UM, handled media
duties on the project. The campaign is also supported by Qantas and Wine
Australia.