a few things to know before your trip to Australia

Why don't travel agents tell you this stuff? Coins are actually worth something here. And that worth is inversely proportional to size. The silver dollar-size coin is 50 cents. The coin that looks like a quarter is a dollar. And the one that looks like a penny? Two bucks. So don't go leaving it on a counter like I did.




For some reason, Aussie guide books are elusive on electricity, stating only the wattage and "angled pins." What they should say is that electrical sockets are like a cartoon of a sad eyed person yawning. Two slants and a vertical. Converters may be hard to find in the States, but fairly easy to get here. One tricky thing about plugging things in, however, is you have to actually turn on the socket. Each has a little switch at the top. Now you know. So you don't have to wonder as I did one morning how come all of your plugged-in-overnite electronics are dead.



Go grocery shopping. It's fun to see familiar products with slightly bastardized names. Why bother changing the names, I wonder? Product border patrols?




Such a simple idea, you wonder why we haven't instituted it in the States. Two options for flushing: half flush and whole. Saves oceans of water. But can be confusing the first time you go to the loo.

australia debuts postmillennial Mad Men

Bill Green of Make the Logo Bigger fame has been talking up a new TV series about to launch in Australia: 30 seconds, an Aussie version of post-millennial ad agency life. It's created by actual ECD's at an ad agency, which sounded promising, until I remembered that Trust Me had the same credentials. I landed in Sydney just in time for the premiere, according to this poster I saw in a subway tunnel, and was all set to watch until discovering that the hotel I was staying in didn't get Foxtel. So, like you, I could sample only a few clips posted by media blogger
Mumbrella. Which were biting and spot on and made me long for more. I only hope FOX in the States will import it as is, without mucking it up by trying to Americanize it. Here's from Mumbrella's thumbs up:

Naturally there’s a bit of exposition in the first episode for non industry folk. But the backdrop is real enough – the underperforming Sydney outpost of global network BND Worldwide; the client who wants to keep an annoying brand icon; the client who wants to get rid of a much loved (and agency created) brand icon; the dead brand icon; the psychopathic new CEO; the awkward client-creative relationship...But, more to the point, there’s a proper storyline, laughs, and decent characters. Enough, I think, to be of wider appeal beyond the industry audience.

my favorite t-shirt sighting in australia. or anywhere

Since uploading this pic to Facebook, I've received numerous requests for the shirt. Unfortunately, I've never seen it for sale.

fail whale on twitter and it can cost you

With copywriters streaming jobless into the streets, how hard can it be to find one to ghost-tweet for you, posting random observations a few times a day in no more than 140 characters? The job might seem like a cinch, but remember--in the twitterverse, authenticity reigns. Posers and pushers are quickly called out. Which is what happened to Hugh Jackman the other day when "his" tweet mistakenly referred to the well-known Sydney Opera House as the Opera Center. The blooper is apparently costing him $100K, which he's offering to donate to some lucky tweeter's charity of choice. (Presumably, so he can get the tax write-off.) Got a nonprofit you want to pimp? Tell Hugh about it. But be brief. Very brief. Say, 140 characters.

another reason to move to australia

Aussie tv. My daughter came home from college this week and (aside from dirty laundry) brought We Can Be Heroes, the funniest content I've seen in a long time. It's a faux-reality series running based on a search for “Australian of the Year.” What makes it hilarious, aside from droll reportage, is that one comic actor plays all five contestants:

--a 16 year old prep school girl who sponsors 85 Sudanese children, raising money by fasting two days a week

--a boy who donated his eardrum to his hearing-impaired twin

--a menopausal housewife who holds world championship for the dubious sport of “distance-rolling”, coached by her retired couch potato husband

--40 year old man who saved 9 children from a jumping castle that blew into power lines on a windy day

--23 year old Chinese physics student who, over his parents’ objections, is pursuing a career as an actor.

Extending the show's brand (and its entertainment value) is an in-character website featuring photos, videos, letters and personal revelations from each of the contestants, like the 16 year old's "global vision statement." Which means that ABC Australia not only knows a good thing, they know how to market it. Right down to prominently noting that This show is rated M. It is not recommended for persons under 15 years. It contains coarse language. What could a 12 year old find more persuasive?


translation: dux (not ducks) is award given to student with highest academic achievement

are aussies more civilized?

Buying something online from Australia? Here are the drop down options available when specifying your address:

Bshp
Cptn
Dame
Dr
Drs
Eldr
Lady
Maj
Miss
Mr
Mrs
Ms
Prof
Pstr (?)
Rev
Sir
(and, lastly, my personal favorite ) The

first day of spring! time to fill up the water balloons

New Schweppes campaign in Australia uses old slomo effect to, er, great effect. Garth Davis of Exit Films shot 10,000 fps. Agency: George Patterson Y&R.



via VSL via Duncan's TV Ad Land

aussie ad agency is back

If you've missed this blog as much as I have, you'll be glad to know that Writer has posted today for the first time in months. Does the A in WGA Strike also stand for Australia?

why the bloody hell don't we move to australia

I have no time to blog—I'm on two pitches, remember?

But I did have time to troll the web just now and stumbled across a site that you may already know--The Advertising Agency. It's in Australia, but with the same tsuris-producing clients & clueless management we deal with over here. I almost blew my cover (that I was googling some questions re. our target market) by laughing out loud at a post from last March, titled Being a Writer is Like Being a Cleaner:

You sweep the dirt into one corner and someone says, 'No, I wanted it in THAT corner.'

So you sweep it into the other corner and then someone else - some loser account guy playing devil's advocate for some loser client - comes in and wants it in another corner so you do that and then someone else wants it under the carpet instead of in a corner and then the art director says, 'I'm not having any carpet in my office,' and then the CD comes in and says you're using the wrong broom anyway.

So you get another broom and sweep around for another few hours and then the client comes in and says you should have vacuumed it.

By that stage you've been sweeping so much there is hardly anything left to sweep and now it's five-thirty and all you want is a drink and you think to yourself, 'If I really was the cleaner, I'd be going home right about now.'

I'm thinking of swapping jobs. Do cleaners earn $250,000 a year?

Is that what staff copywriters pull down over there? No wonder Australian tourism ads were banned for a while--lesser paid creatives on holiday there might never come back.