Holiday romance, Tim Tams and gravy: Classic Aussie television ads that made us laugh
As we while away lockdown in front of the telly, we remember the classic ads that made us laugh — and starred these familiar faces who later made it in Hollywood. 25 DAYS TO GO.
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Today we look at the greatest Aussie television ads that made us laugh.
NATALIE GETS TWISTED
Look out for a young Natalie Imbruglia, well before she found fame in Neighbours and then topped the pop charts with the song Torn, moping around as drinks waitress in this Twisties ad from the early 1990s.
BLANCHETT’S FIRST WISH
She is one of the world’s most respected actresses, but Cate Blanchett was not always a star. Back before the awards and the accolades Blanchett was flexing her acting chops talking to a genie that she had rubbed out of a lamp in this ad for Tim Tams.
PORTIA’S HEALTH MESSAGE
Around the time they tasted film success with Sirens, Kate Fischer (now known as Tziporah Malkah) and Portia de Rossi (formerly known as Amanda Rogers) appeared in an ad for the Albion Street Centre to raise awareness of HIV.
RUSTY GOES CLUBBING
Long before he was a ‘Gladiator’ Russell Crowe was a skinny young bloke looking for $10 bucks to get into a nightclub in this ad for State Bank. He might be a little hard to recognise but his voice has hardly changed a bit.
WATTS LOVES LAMB OVER CRUISE
Naomi Watts was a long way from Hollywood when she appeared in this ad for Australian lamb in 1989, famously turning down a date with Tom Cruise to stay home and have a roast cooked by her mum. It did not take long for six degrees of separation to kick in with Watts’s best buddy Nicole Kidman marrying Cruise in 1990.
IT’S ALL GRAVY
As an ode to Naomi Watts’s lamb ad and with overtones of the bottle flipping bar antics from the movie Cocktail, Eric Bana made gravy entertaining in this ad for Gravox before his film career took off.
SICK EM, REX
And suddenly the humble cotton undie was sexy after an anteater called Rex snaffled up creepy-crawlies on model Tonya Bird’s body in this ad for Antz Pantz. ‘Sic ‘em Rex,’ was Bird’s call to action for her spiky co-star. The ad was a hit and is nothing more than harmless fun, but the outrage would be loud and long if it was launched in today’s eager to be offended times.
NOT HAPPY JAN!
“Not happy Jan!” is still a catchphrase today after the incredible cut-through of this Yellow Pages ad from 2000. The line was delivered by comedian Deborah Kennedy after her character discovered one of her staff, Jan, had forgotten to place a business listing in the Yellow Pages.
WHO USED THE LAST ROLL?
In a year where toilet paper has been a regular part of the news cycle, it would have been remiss not to include this family friendly ad for Sorbent loo paper in this list. The ad from the mid-90s owes its success to the charm of youngster Matthew Krok.
WEIRD SCIENCE
“Why is it so?,” asked Julius Sumner Miller in a series of ads for Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate that combined simple science experiments and the sweet treat. The ads ran in the early ‘80s and helped the physics professor and children’s TV science presenter become a cult figure.
RHONDA’S ROMANCE
Whatever happened to Rhonda and Ketut? Maybe it is time for insurer AAMI to roll out a new version of the romantic adventures of the fictional Rhonda and her holiday beau, Ketut. A series of Rhonda and Ketut ads were released over three years from 2011 – 2014 with the pair last seen on the dance floor at a school reunion. “Kiss me Ketut,’ and ‘You look so hot today, like a sunrise,” were the popular catchphrases from the much loved ads.
SOAK IT UP
Manicurist Madge was the star of this ad for Palmolive in the 1980s. “You’re soaking in it,” was the catch cry that grew out of the commercial.
BRUSH YOUR TEETH
The famous Mrs Marsh taught kids the importance of brushing their teeth with Colgate for years in a series of ads for the toothpaste brand. The trick of dipping a piece of chalk in a glass of inky coloured fluid was a brilliant way to emphasise “it does get in.”
PASS US A BEER
Back in the day when Australian cricketers knew how to enjoy themselves Allan Border, Jeff Thomson and Greg Ritchie appeared in this famous XXXX beer ad which was filmed on Great Keppel Island. The jingle, the setting and the sports stars, who you just knew loved a beer, made this ad a classic.
‘STRAYA
Finally, a list of classic Australian ads isn’t complete without one of Paul Hogan’s Australian Tourism Commercials from the1980s. These ads sold Australia to the world as Hogan promised to “slip another shrimp on the barbie for ya.”
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