Tourism Tasmania parodies South Australia’s controversial ‘old mate’ campaign

Tourism Tasmania parodies South Australia’s controversial ‘old mate’ campaign

Tourism Tasmania has had a cheeky dig at South Australian Tourism’s recent ‘old mate’ campaign with one of its own that pinches the controversial ad’s original catchphrase.

Two weeks ago, South Australian Tourism Commission released an ad that showed an elderly man who’d apparently left it too late to visit the state.

However, the spot was quickly denounced as being ageist, offensive and depressing for its portrayal of the elderly while offending a group that would make up a large base of its tourist market.

Now Tourism Tasmania has re-jigged the spot via its in-house creative that shows an elderly man enjoying the state’s famed oysters with the voiceover, “Don’t feel sorry for old mate, he’s been coming to Tassie for years.”

Check out the new work below:

Tourism Tasmania CMO Emma Terry admitted the campaign was a parody of the original South Australian campaign.

“Given some of the recent attention the ‘old mate’ campaign has been attracting, we felt there was some room to be a little cheeky on social media – a channel which lends itself to some light hearted fun,” Terry said.

“One of our own past campaigns has featured the imagery of our own ‘old mate’ taking part in a uniquely Tasmanian experience and clearly enjoying it.

“It’s great to see the post generating some positive commentary about Tassie and our wonderful oysters.”

And check out the original SA campaign below:

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