Does cocky Dick push it too far in banned Australia Day spot promoting nuts and spreads?
January 23 2013, 2:57 pm | | 35 Comments
This is the un-censored version of the Dick Smith Foods Australia Day Ad that can’t be screened on Australian TV on Australia Day.
The spot was created by comedian Dan Ilic via his production company Downwind Media.
According to Free TV’s Commercial Advice division, this ad is unsuitable for broadcast during the normal television viewing hours due to the high levels of innuendo.
35 Comments
Yup.
About every single thing that’s wrong with the bottom half of Australian advertising in one foul swoop.
Mindless, puerile double entendres? Check.
Jingoistic patriotism? Check.
Stereotypical immigrants with funny ‘foreign’ accents? Check.
Shit ad? Check.
Fucking hell. He’s not just a Dick, he’s a fucking cock.
Satire? (reminds me of Monty Python)
Agency credits anyone?
While we’re indulging in a little puerility, it’s mildly amusing that the word innuendo sounds a little bit like ‘in your end…o’.
@deary dear
While you may sound like one of those negative trolls that seems to swarm this blog,
I agree with everything you said. clap clap!
The guy’s about 400years old, and has never been in advertising, yet still writes an ad that will get more media value, cut through and sales results than anything the hoardes of frothing self important gen y hipsters will make this year. Now that deserves respect, even if the content doesnt.
Media value and cut-through?
Here’s an ad.
Cock. Fuck. Wank. Fuck. Piss. Shit. Now buy this product.
It’ll get loads of press, everyone will talk about it.
But it’s still just a shit ad.
You can get talked about for pretty much anything.
Running through Martin Place naked will get you a spot on the news.
it just has to be relevant and not use crude racial stereotypes to flog your crap ‘sauce.’
It’s not fucking hard mate.
um @impressive, thats like saying a full page ad of a picture of a dick with a headline like “Come down and see Dick” deserves respect. It doesn’t. He tried. He failed.
He has something of a knack for it.
Years ago, when he was behind the counter at his first electronics store at the Big Bear in Neutral Bay, he used to call himself The Electronic Dick.
what’s the big concern? After reading the headlines all day I was expecting far worse than this. @impressive got it correct above.
Dick Smith makes a few claims in this ad. While the dick comments are juvenile, they’re hardly offensive.
The boat people scene on the other hand, is a disgrace and shouldn’t be there and is grounds for the ad being banned. But everything else is spot on.
I don’t imagine the ad it will go down well with the hip ad crowds in Surry Hills and North Sydney, but they’re not really the market anyway are they? (except for some of the sooks on this message board though….?)
I’m in Surry Hills, although I’m not that hip. But the ad has ‘gone down’ just fine with me.
Sure it is crass and tasteless. Much like Mr Smiths food I suspect.
But at least Dick has balls.
And most of the stuff we see on our telly is singularly lacking in testicles of any shape or size.
I wish he’d gone further and made the entire thing a bunch of dick jokes, dropping the parochial shit.
Opportunity lost.
For someone that claimed to hate the ‘Dick does’ campaign, he’s just gone and ripped it off – poorly I might add.
This ad is an absolute embarrassment to the industry.
Oh yeah its going down well with me.
No seriously this is Really Bad- AS in BAD ASS !!!
they even had grannies swearing and everything
4.8 million donated already…
How can people miss that?
On ya dick!
Dick Smith is an advertising genius.
Hip ad crowds in North Sydney?
That is funny.
No Steve, you ARE hip. Super hip.
‘Dick has balls’ most blatantly-obvious-best-one-liner in the comment section so far. Kudos
Dick got the ex-Chaser boys to do this with the intention of getting it banned so it’d go viral. Genius.
Clearly designed to get PR, get banned, and cause an uproar by offending white, middle-class, PC do-gooders.
100,000 views on youtube. Articles in every newspaper. On the news. Everyone talking about it.
Job done.
It won’t win Cannes Gold, but ya think Dick cares?
It will get people talking about his products, and people will buy em. Which, I thought, was the point of advertising. You know, to sell stuff…
Best charity ad in years.
Not surprised.
Did anyone see the Christmas retail spots? ??
Two Christmas baubles positioned either side of the dick smith logo – which in turn lifts suggestively.
Dick knows how to get a rise… ha.
The motherfucker shows a shot of a burning ship, out to sea, with the immigrant ‘survivors’ crawling ashore to hawk his crap.
An absolute disgrace.
This blog has always, quite rightly, risen to attack those who use death and human tragedy to sell product.
And this is one of the worst I’ve seen.
Call me a Surry Hills hipster, but fuck it, what next, a Paki joke?
Horrible little man.
Love it. It’s bad, it’s awful, it’s fxck you and it’s so Australian.
#Dick Lover
No it’s not. Unless you’ve got the Southern Cross tattooed on your arm and you cruise the streets looking for someone to bully.
I’m sure those fuckers will think its hilarious.
But hey, they’re cunts.
Boo hoo. You’re all a bunch of old women.
If the objective was to let people know that Dick Smith is selling stuff this Australia day and all profits stay here – it has succeeded.
Sounds like you edgy ad people aren’t so liberal after all, which is probably why you’re all still in advertising.
oh, is this blog about advertising?
Sam kekovich should sue for being included.
No mention of Australia being a Penal Colony.
what an arsehole. maybe us up in Terrey Hills (enough said) should sue him for the annoying sound his helicopters make when he lands them at all times of the day and night. Besides all that and being a rich wanker – his peanut butter sucks and his food is awful…..
This is insulting. Why? Because it suggests advertising is just about attention. As someone said – anyone can get attention with a crude stunt.
But what about the brand? It’s food. One still needs to think about quality, appetite appeal and possibly the target market who buy Dick Smith products.
Before seeing this, I had never made a link between the taste of dick and Dick Smith food. So now, when I roll my trolley down the isle and see that little logo on a packet, I will think about eating dick…and what that tastes like. And that is not something I really want to feed my little Aussie family.
The message had potential – in fact, it’s a worthy, classy and interesting message. Instead of getting it out there clearly while helping people love the Dick Smith brand it was put in the hands of a cowboy and now all I can see is Dick-Cheese in a jar. And yes, he actually sells cheese spread in a jar.
Dick Smith, you have received some bad advice on this.
You are better quality than this.
I see on your website that you are selling “Gourmet Hampers” and opening a high end deli style store.
Do you have any idea that this low grade piece of communication full of dick jokes is a terrible choice if you want to help with creating any sense of quality for your products?
Hey deary dear
Don’t go making statements and judgements laced with superiority while using the expression “one foul swoop.”
Makes you look like a dill.
It’s “one fell swoop.”
Now you know.
Couldn’t give a toss, about Clever Dick, or Love of Dick!
I eat DICK, but know how to suck Dick.
Don’t buy Dick.
Go cry Dick.
Same level of Cleverness, right there too!
Where’s my award?