The iconic Australia Day lamb campaign ad is back with a bang

AUSTRALIA DAY is just weeks away, which means Sam Kekovich is back with his latest lamb ad. Watch it here, and see how many Aussie celebs you can spot!

CALLING all Aussies: the latest Australia Day lamb ad has just dropped, and it’s an absolute ripper.

Sam Kekovich is back as our nation’s famous resident Lambassador. He’s usually known for his trademark satirical deadpan rants about ‘un-Australianism’ sweeping the nation.

This year’s campaign, however, is a little more out there. Kekovich is joined by legendary SBS newsreader Lee Lin Chin and a host of Aussie icons, where they embark on ‘Operation Boomerang’ - a mission to save Aussies abroad from having to go without a lamb barbecue on Australia Day.

Lee Lin Chin leads an army, including Kekovich and Fitzy & Wippa, across the likes of Tokyo, London and Bali, on a journey to bring home a number of prominent Aussies. The ad ends with a triumphant Kekovich touching down in an aeroplane, just in time for a mega lamb barbecue.

In an interview with news.com.au, Kekovich said he wanted to keep the conversation around Australia Day free from politics.

“At the end of the day, Australia Day is about a bunch of people coming together around a barbecue, over some lamb, taking a deep breath, and treating people the way you’d like to be treated.”

There’s no doubt that to the current generation of young Aussies, Kekovich is ‘the lamb guy’. And he wears that title with pride.

“Lamb just brings people together. All your family, all your mates. That’s really what Australia Day is about.”

And his favourite thing to drink at a lamb barbecue? Any good Aussie beer, of course.

“It’s got to be a VB,” he says. “Or sometimes a red wine. But I wouldn’t say no to some good old-fashioned H20.”

But it’s Lee Lin Chin who really steals the show this year. From her “Vegans!" scoff to that trademark villainous smile, her presence is arguably the best part of the whole ad. Over the past year, her social media presence has skyrocketed thanks to her dry, dark sense of humour.

#MerryChristmas, let's exchange presents. I'll continue to let you live and you give me your vote in the #tvweeklogies #nonnegotiable

— Lee Lin Chin (@LeeLinChinSBS) December 25, 2015

There's no point in acting your age. If I did I wouldn't be at the pub right now with two 25 year old models.

— Lee Lin Chin (@LeeLinChinSBS) December 17, 2014

I'm going to the Logies for the first time tonight, which one of the @HomeandAwayTV boys is most likely to put out?

— Lee Lin Chin (@LeeLinChinSBS) May 3, 2015

“She’s a universally accepted figure,” says Kekovich. “She’s pleasant, she’s pivotal. She’s not complicated or tyrannical.”

While the fabulous Lee Lin Chin has gained notoriety in her previous videos - most notably for single-handedly engaging in a fight to the death with Australia’s major newsreaders - she’s clearly playing good cop this time, successfully bringing a bunch of estranged Aussies home for a barbecue.

Andrew Howie, the Group Marketing Manager of Meat and Livestock Australia, says: “Lamb remains our nation’s favourite meat. This year we want to remind all Australians to get together with loved ones and friends to celebrate what Australia Day is all about - sharing some delicious lamb on the barbie.”

You heard ‘em. Get your roast on.

What did you think of this year’s ad? Let us know in the comments!