Aust vs England hostilities spread beyond the cricket field in new Vegemite ad via Thinkerbell
Vegemite, via Thinkerbell, Melbourne, has published an ad in UK newspaper The Mirror in response to Marmite handing out free jars of Marmite at the cricket in an attempt to woo those attending.
Vegemite has issued a press release to Australia explaining why Vegemite felt compelled to run the ad…
“Dear Australia,
Vegemite was forced into an unfamiliar position last night where we had to take out a full page ad in the UK newspaper, The Mirror. The ad we ran (please see attached) was in response to Marmite (a softer, gentler, more polite version of Vegemite) handing out free jars of Marmite at the cricket in an attempt to woo those attending.
The ad we felt compelled to run, explains why England’s beloved Marmite’s crusade is futile. You see Vegemite is made for Australia, we don’t expect the English to embrace our stronger, more resilient taste, and nor can we imagine many Australians going for a middle order substitute.
Matt Gray, Vegemite spokesperson in Australia said “It’s not often we get brought into such a large scale international conflict. However, we found Marmite’s behaviour to be a little untoward. It’s just not cricket to give away Marmite at the cricket. We just want to set the record straight that Australians will always prefer Vegemite as Vegemite actually tastes like Australia. The English are welcome to their mild Marmite, it probably suits their sensitive palates a little more.”
Vegemite was invented in Australia in 1923, made from the yeast extract from brewing beer – how Australian is that. Some would call it our national spread. We wish Marmite all the best, but don’t expect many Australians to be bowled over by its taste.
Vegemite is proud to Taste Like Australia, and promises to not mention Brexit in any press release. “
UPDATE: Marmite, via agency adam&eve, London fired back in Saturday’s edition of the Daily Mirror, right where it hurts for Australian cricket fans.
“Dear Vegemite,” the ad starts, again in ALL CAPS.
“We might not taste like Australia, but love it or hate it, we won’t be tampering with it.
“See you at the Home of Cricket.”
34 Comments
Nice one – its not shit its fun.
Love it.
Solid effort. Like it
Great copy…
Out of sandpaper? Vegemite do.
shit copy, hire me instead
Lovely writing.
A classic case of spending $X dollars on a press ad in another country, so you can enjoy $XXXX worth of free PR in your own country.
Excellent.
Nah yeah, this is good.
Ha ha ha ha. Great ad Thinkerbell!
Bold move. Printing some very average copywriting in the country that invented it.
Was this written by a prep-schooler?
Put some time into it people.
I enjoyed that.
this is and will get lots of press.
dont show your jealousy by trying to slag it off, just be humble and admit you wish you’d got to do it
nice work team
It’s a lovely lighthearted piss take. Just think how sad and bitter you would have to be not to love it.
Like the product, it’s a bit shit.
Love it. Nicely played.
Well, this is one of those things that will almost certainly achieve its goals. And what are those? Sell product? Drive market growth? Nope, it’s win advertising awards.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the ad itself. It’s funny, timely, well done. And as long as we can all be very clear on what it is aiming to achieve, then golf claps all round. Plus, as far as ‘doing advertising just to win awards’ goes, it’s definitely at the right end of the scale. Cheap, simple, not done at the expense of work that will actually be effective for the client.
Is it wrong that I like the copy in the press release more than the full-page ad?
It’s funny.
Brands don’t have identity’s anymore.
They met too scared to stand for anything.
I know who Vegemite is now.
…horrible execution
“Promises to not mention Brexit”. Love it. I hope this wins stuff
Yeah of course the copy could have a bit more finesse or whatever it is that makes great copy great but this sort of work needs to go out the door in a hurry. Congrats Thinkerbell & Vegemite. Enjoy your free media.
“I know who Vegemite is now.”
Really?
This one was a bit better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzIIB1HMMFU
And probably 30 times the budget.
No wit or charm in the copy. Good idea but missed imo
Not great copy, perhaps written by someone who doesn’t understand Cricket, this could’ve been so much better.
But big fkn deal hey… at the end of the day… it went live, it went big, and this ad wouldn’t have got up if Thinkerbell didn’t have in-house media.
Proper Advertising. Well done. Tick.
It made me feel proud to be Aussie.
There are fuckwits on campaign brief. Who knew!!
Not every piece of communication is designed to sell product.
Take out your marketing textbook and look up ‘brand awareness’.
‘… a far stronger taste, made of resilience and fortitude with a dash of cunning and guile.’
Insipid writing.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EBl8I46X4AAlSIY.jpg
Great response.
… yeah great response from the inventors and masters of tampering hahahah
Marmite response ad shows just how good the Aussie one should’ve been. Concise and witty copywriting from Marmite.