There’s a lot to love about lamb, and this awesome new ad

THIS new ad for lamb has done what many top-rating Aussie TV shows don’t: celebrate diversity.

THIS new ad for lamb has done what many top-rating Aussie TV shows don’t: celebrate diversity.

The Meat and Livestock Corporation’s (MLA) awesome “You’ll Never Lamb Alone” ad is getting a huge thumbs-up for its frank and lighthearted showcasing of diversity.

It opens with “perky white male” TV presenter Luke Jacobz cutting straight to the chase, saying he’s here to “address concerns that too many perky white males are contributing to a lack of diversity on our screens”.

He’s rapidly replaced by Indian-Australian actor Arka Das, who continues the spiel before a succession of Australians from diverse backgrounds, including Olympian Cathy Freeman, rugby league player Greg Inglis, model Samantha Harris — all high profile Aboriginal Australians — Greek transgender comedian Jordan Raskopoulos, two gay dads, a deaf woman and even a dude named “Jesus” continue on with the theme “Lamb doesn’t discriminate ... and nor should you”.

The one-shot masterpiece concludes with a crowd around a barbecue and Das asking “who was here first” to which Freeman and Inglis reply, “Aaaah, that’d be us.”

Greg Inglis, Cathy Freeman and Jordan Raskopoulos in the closing scene of the new ad. Picture: Still

“It proves that there is no other meat that brings people together quite like lamb,” MLA said on its website.

MLA’s Andrew Howie says the new campaign is all about being inclusive.

“It was important to highlight that when you watch TV and what you see in the broader media does not reflect what Australia truly looks like,” he said, adding many Australian’s felt they weren’t being represented in mass media.

It’s the second big ad for the MLA for the year — it’s Australia Day campaign was dubbed violent towards vegans and racist, and the Advertising Standards Bureau flooded with complaints for its scenes torching a bowl of kale, and for the use of the term “Operation Boomerang”.

The reply from many Australians was for the critics to “lighten up”.

Of the Australia Day spot, Howie says: “We take a continual improvement approach at MLA. Every time we do a campaign we put out what we believe is the best possible iteration, we take it to market, we get feedback and we take those leanings forward to the next campaign. There’s no particular learning from the Australia Day campaign, for whatever reason it’s our most successful campaign ever, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.”

‘Perky white male’: Luke Jacobz opens the ad. Picture: Still

Originally published as There’s a lot to love about lamb, and this awesome new ad