At the trade media launch of Australia the move this week, Tourism Australia CEO Geoff Buckley and GM Marketing laughed off what appeared to be the attempted hijacking of the movie Australia by Tasmania with the island state vying for its share of the limelight by Tourism Tasmania launching its Tasmania: The Movie campaign — a parody of the movie Australia.
A Sydney Morning Herad report says that from December 4 until Christmas, a spoof movie trailer boasting Tasmania’s natural wonders will precede Australia at selected cinemas in Sydney and Melbourne and a website will also go online from Monday.
Media reports say that a booming male voice declares, “This summer see lofty mountains, bendy rivers, ancient forests and beautiful beaches — in Tasmania. Bigger than Australia.”
Jan Ross, Tourism Tasmania’s director of marketing and commercial operations, yesterday said the campaign picked up on a romance theme — billing Tasmania as a romantic destination.
“We are echoing the themes of transformation, adventure, romance and landscape in the same way you see in the movie with Nicole and Hugh in the northern part of Australia,” she said.
While Tourism Tasmania backs Tourism Australia’s own $40 million campaign that is built around the blockbuster going global to 22 countries, Ms Ross said it was important to present the state in its own way, albeit with a “Tasmanian-sized budget” of $100,000.
Promotions surrounding Australia have raised some eyebrows in Tasmania with the state apparently missing from a map of Australia on some of the film’s posters. Cinema promoters dismissed the oversight as a “printing issue”, with the offending posters replaced. “Things like that don’t worry us, we’re used to it,” Ms Ross said.
“(But) I suppose they do tend to make us want to stand up and say, ‘Hey, don’t forget us.’ ”
What does The Mole think?
You kind of think that the States would leave Tourism Australia have their moment in the spotlight and leave it alone!
To view Tasmania the movie visit: http://www.tasmaniathemovie.com
I don’t get it, perhaps you will!
A Report by the Mole
