66 Australian Commercials Trivia Questions & Answers

Answer: A change in government

On the back of this 1972 campaign, Gough Whitlam and his Australian Labor Party (ALP) swept into power, with Whitlam becoming Australia's 21st Prime Minister. Beyond taking Gough to the Lodge, what made this campaign so spectacular was that, in Australian political circles, there had been nothing like it before. After this, the way political parties in this country would campaign changed forever.

Back to this advert, McCallum, who was riding the crest of a wave with the success of her debut solo single, "Superman" (1972), delivered the song with the passion of a true devotee. But she wasn't alone in the song, with its chorus enhanced by a large group of, what was at the time, Australian entertainment royalty. Amongst these were the likes of Jack Thompson, Jackie Weaver, Graham Kennedy and Bert Newton. To put this into context, "It's Time" would do for the ALP what "We Are the World" did to draw attention to the plight of starving Africans in 1985.

Answer: Price comparison website

The company, comparethemarket, is based in the United Kingdom, but they have an Australian branch which started running the meerkat commercials approximately four years after their introduction in the UK. The main characters and their history is shared between both markets, but the UK has seen a much larger range of ancillary characters introduced than has been the case in Australia. The original Australian advertisements were purely offering the service of allowing customers to compare a range of health insurance policies; they have since expanded to allow comparison of a range of purchases. Originally they still concentrated on different kinds of insurance, but within five years were offering comparisons on energy suppliers, subscription television, loans and credit cards.

Answer: Duke of Earl

Decore was 'De Family Shampoo' back in 1986, and showed about a dozen people miming, usually using the shampoo bottle as a microphone. The original song was released by Gene Chandler in 1962, and has been covered oodles of times.
Note- they were NOT all in the same shower!

Answer: 1950s

Sing along with me,

"We're happy little Vegemites
As bright as bright can be.
We all enjoy our Vegemite
For breakfast, lunch, and tea.
Our mummies say we're growing stronger
Every single week,
Because we love our Vegemite
We all adore our Vegemite
It puts a rose in every cheek."

The jingle even pre-dates television in Australia, being released in 1954, and played on the 'wireless'. Television did not start broadcasting until 1956. Vegemite is definitely an acquired taste, with many foreigners disparagingly comparing it to axle-grease. As I am not in the habit of eating grease, I prefer not to comment on this observation.

Answer: Northern Territory

Your choice. Do you want to get killed by a crocodile, a dingo, a cassowary, any number of venomous snakes, a water buffalo, or just die from alcoholic poisoning?

NT has one of the highest rates of alcohol consumption in the world, and also has some of the most dangerous animals around, but it also has some of the most breathtakingly beautiful scenery. Kakadu National Park, Uluru, Katherine Gorge, Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt are just some of the treasures that attract tourists from all over the world.

"Hey, Hey, It's Saturday" ran from 1971 to 1999, with Dazza and Ossie, a pink ostrich, in charge of the mayhem.

Answer: Holeproof Underdaks

" ... with your pants down."

A series of commercials from the 1970s and 80s featuring men getting caught with their trousers down in embarrassing circumstances, on a football field, accidentally flushing your pants away in an aeroplane toilet, at a mate's wedding, being forced to strip at an airport metal detector, etc. Very funny, and the phrase has now come part of the Australian vernacular.

Answer: The gobbledok

The gobbledok was the creature whose favorite food was Smith's Crisps. The snock is from a story I heard when younger who keeps stealing your socks while they are in the washing machine. It's his fault you never have a pair of socks.

Answer: Frosties

And they are gr-r-reat! He is also used in USA, but in the USA Frosties are called "Frosted Flakes". In the USA Tony also has a cereal called "Tiger Power".

Answer: Vegemite

Every true-blue Australian would know this song which was first released on radio in 1954, then on TV two years later:

"We're happy little Vegemites
As bright as bright can be.
We all enjoy our Vegemite
For breakfast, lunch and tea.
Our mother says we're growing stronger every single week
Because we love our Vegemite.
We all adore our Vegemite.
IT PUTS A ROSE IN EVERY CHEEK !"

Answer: Castrol GTX

John Bluthal had a long and interesting career, appearing in many British classic television productions, such as 'The Vicar of Dibley', 'Minder', 'Inspector Morse', and 'The Goodies'. He also appeared in the Beatles movies 'Help!', and 'A Hard Day's Night', a James Bond movie, and two 'Pink Panther' movies. In Australia, he featured in the 'Mavis Bramston Show' and 'Home Sweet Home'. The ads mainly used The Boss as a godfather-type complete with cape, cigar and awful Sicilian accent.

Answer: Bread

The phrase was also modified slightly to promote Tip Top muffins. Tip Top started operations in the mid 1940s and became a nationwide operation, with plants in every state and also in New Zealand.

Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs (yes, that is the real name!), were a type of caramel-covered popcorn and peanut mixture.

Answer: Chimpanzees

The late Maurie Fields did the voices for this cute series of ads. Wally saying to his wife "Strewth! I thought ya said green! Aaaaargh!", when he should be painting it in a cream colour.

Answer: Aeroplane Jelly

Aeroplane Jelly originally had this ad. Cottee's Jelly is actually a type of Jam(jelly for the Americans).

Answer: Rice Bubbles

Answer: Soft drink

Over the years there would be many different versions of the Solo man. We would witness him white water rafting, paddling a canoe over a waterfall, wrestling a crocodile... I think you get the picture, a manly man was doing manly things. The message, in the end, was pretty simple "REAL men drink lemon soft drink".

The clincher came in the closing shot as our (manly) man guzzled through a can of Solo (making sure that you could see the name) with trickles of the drink running down the sides of his chin, the voice over informing us "it's light on the fizz, so you can slam it down fast". Then the can would be crushed in the manly man's fist.

Answer: Russian

The first meerkat to hit the television screens in Australia was Aleksandr Orlov, CEO of comparethemeerkat.com.au, who earnestly asked us not to confuse his website with that of a competitor who sells insurance. For meerkats, come to him; for insurance, visit them. His speech, both in this ad and in most subsequent ones, ended with him tapping two foreclaws, while grinning and saying, "Simples." The Russian accent was not explained at this time - that came later!

Answer: World Series Cricket

In 1977, media mogul Kerry Packer organised WSC in direct opposition to traditional cricket. He secretly signed up many of the world's leading players, came up with a whole new set of rules, dressed the players in colourful outfits as opposed to the more traditional whites, and even had a theme song written to promote the whole show. The "C'mon Aussie" slogan has since become a sporting anthem and can still be seen and heard at sporting events all around the world.

Answer: Kellogg's Nutri Grain

Iron man food for our own iron man. Grant Kenny became famous when he won both the junior and senior Iron Man Competitions in the one year, then he went on to win the Iron Man Championship three more times.

Answer: Cottees

You'll remember the cute ad with the kids at an orchard. Lately the same tune has been used with different words.

Answer: Head of IT and tea making

According to Aleksandr's introduction, "As well as being Head of IT, Sergei is also Head of My Tea. I like it milky." The full biography, revealed piecemeal over time, indicates that Sergei was something of a computer prodigy, and that he attended MIT (Meerkat Institute of Technology). The biography also includes some chronologically-challenged information: apparently Sergei designed the Mir(kat) Space Station in the 1980s, but he also lost his job in the space program because he faked a moon landing in his own garage. It is Sergei who is officially running the website, and being inundated with traffic from people who have gone there looking for insurance.

Answer: Wine

The original Dr Lindeman, Henry, migrated to Australia from England in 1840, and set up a winery in the now famous Hunter Valley wine region, a couple of hours north of Sydney. His philosophy was simple - "the one purpose of wine is to bring happiness". The jingle was actually written by Booker Prize-winning author, Peter Carey, who was better known for the novels 'Oscar and Lucinda', 'Illywhacker', and the non-fictional 'True History of the Kelly Gang'.

Answer: No Knickers

A bit saucy, and a bit titillating, the Holeproof No Knickers ad from 1985 spawned a couple of sequels. Another of Holeproof's ads, this time for Antz Pantz, featured an echidna named Rex, and a lot of ants crawling over some very pretty and underdressed models.

Answer: TAA

"TAA The Friendly Way" was another slogan used by Trans Australia Airlines. The company was absorbed by QANTAS in 1996.

ANA (Australian National Airways) were taken over by Ansett, who in turn went belly-up following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the USA, whilst Compass were a short-lived company that operated in the early 1990s.

Answer: Underarm deodorant

The ad was full of American references, such as the moon landing, Statue of Liberty, the bald eagle, and red, white and blue bunting everywhere. The campaign only ran for a few months but made a very lasting impression.
Sing along with me...

"You need Uncle Sam, you need Uncle Sam,
Let's get together with the Stars and Striped can
It's the perfect connection 'tween fellers and girls
And under your arm is the top of the world!
No Sweat!"

Answer: Coco Pops