Australian Commercials Trivia Questions

Answer: Toyota

This has to be one of the best-known car-advertising campaigns of all time in Australia.

Answer: AIDS

The commercial depicted the Reaper bowling a tenpin bowling ball at a 'rack' of victims. It was a visually disturbing ad, shot in black and white, but it achieved its aim of highlighting the safe sex, needle-sharing problems associated with this dreadful disease.

Answer: Protect against skin cancer

'Slip on a shirt, Slop on sunscreen, Slap on a hat', said Sid the seagull. Later on we were urged to 'Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek, Slide' with the addition of 'Seek shade, Slide on some sunnies'. Australia has one of the highest rates of melanoma in the world, so the ad was a timely warning. This question is dedicated to my dad, who died of malignant melanoma.

Answer: Pizza Hut

They put words to it which had their name and phone number. All these options will deliver anywhere with the exception of Ruby's which is one of my local pizza shops.

Answer: Froot Loops

Toucan Sam has helped to sell Kellogg's Froot Loops since 1963 when they were released. He has a magical power- he can sniff out the the flavours in Froot Loops while singing his song, "follow my nose, it always knows..."

Answer: Milo

Ironic that the advertising campaigns of this high-sugar chocolate milk flavouring, concentrate on "champions" and sporting prowess.

Answer: Your taste buds are on the top of your tongue

Daffodil margarine was the product being marketed here, back in 1982. Another ad that did not make a lot of sense to me, because as soon as you turn your sanger over, all the cheese and sliced meat and salad would fall off!
The jingle in its entirety was-
"Taste buds are on the top of your tongue, so turn your bread upside down.
Taste it, don't waste it, the great taste of DAFFODIL". Rivetting stuff, eh?

Answer: Cadbury chocolates

He would demonstrate such marvels as driving a paper straw through a potato, getting a hard-boiled egg into a bottle, or collapsing a metal drum with cold water. When his audience was suitably awed, he would slip in the punchline- 'Each block of Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate contains a glass and a half of full-cream dairy milk chocolate'. Did you know that he used to be a student of Albert Einstein?

Answer: That was to keep the rabbits out. Too many rabbits in China

"That was during the time of Emperor Nasi Goring." In the final seconds of the ad, Daniel gets up in front of the class to deliver his school talk on China. His impending humiliation was not shown.

Answer: Pizza Haven

The ad had an employee of Pizza Haven scaling cliffs and crossing rivers just to deliver a pizza. La Porchetta's is a chain of Italian Restaurants who actually do sell pizzas but they don't deliver. Subway is a healthy roll shop. Jack's is a local pizza shop.

Answer: Corn Flakes

Cornelius Rooster was designed by the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency in 1957 for the Kellogg's Corn Flakes package.

Answer: Weet-Bix

Aussie kids are Weet-Bix kids - Irishman Pat Aulten who now lives in Magnetic Island, Queensland wrote the words and music to this well-known jingle.

Answer: A hard earned thirst

Carlton & United Brewery is based in Melbourne, and they have run various versions of this advertisement over the decades. Each has the average man toiling away at a number of tasks...
"You can get bowlin'
You can get it rollin'"
All designed so that he could reward himself with an ice cold beer... and that beer needed to be Victoria Bitter (VB).

The campaign began as far back as 1965 but, in its initial days, it wasn't set up to promote VB. Rather, it was to push their brand Bulimba Gold Top within a Brisbane market that was being dominated by XXXX. It worked so well that they were outselling their main competitor within weeks. Seeing the success in Brisbane they turned their attention to the Melbourne market where, while they sold reasonably well their product wasn't well positioned and they saw this commercial as a means to address that...
"You can get it jumpin'
You can get it pumpin'"
After all, even Victorians needed to be rewarded with an ice cold beer.

The campaign to add value to the VB brand in 1967 was then hastened with the imminent introduction into their marketplace of UK based brewer Courage. Their research team discovered that the market for VB - blue collar, honest toil and reward for a hard day's work - was exactly the same as the one for Bulimba. The decision was then easy, use the same commercial, simply change the name. They employed Australian actor John Meillon, best known as Walter Reilly in the film "Crocodile Dundee" (1986), to be the voice and a legend was born.
"You can get it workin' a plough
As a mater of fact, think I've got it now."

Answer: Gypsykats

There Grigory fell in love with Anastasia, a lovely gypsykat, and they had a son, Anton (Aleksandr's father). Once again, the family's life was disrupted when the gypsykats were rounded up and sent to a ghetto in Moscow. Since they were, for some reason, still carrying the family portraits around with them, young Anton and his friend Stanislav began to play a game with them, a game they called Compare the Meerkat. Details of this game are intentionally vague.

Answer: American Express

'American Express. Don't leave home without it' was the tagline of a long-running series of ads that featured Karl Malden back in the mid-1970s. The concept of travellers cheques was launched by AmEx in 1891.
Countrylink is the rural bus and train system operated by the New South Wales government.

Answer: Paul Hogan- Winfield

His career kicked off with an appearance on a talent show, in which he only placed second. From there to the 'Paul Hogan Show' to 'Crocodile Dundee' was just a natural progression. Riding on the success of the 'Paul Hogan Show', Winnies soon became the best selling brand in the country.

Stuart Wagstaff was a debonair English born actor, and Graham Kennedy was the 'King of Television', maybe too well known for his 'crow calls'.

Norman Gunston, aka the Little Aussie Bleeder, played by Garry McDonald had to be seen to be believed. His interview with Sally Struthers still makes me howl with laughter.

Cigarette advertising was banned in Australian media in 1992. Did you know that the first product advertised on Australian television was Rothman's cigarettes? Thanks to gtho4 for help with the research.

Answer: Insect killer

Ross played Ted Bullpitt, ("This is Ted Bullpit...No! Bull-PIT...yeah, everyone says that."), in the very irreverent, but very funny, "Kingswood Country". Like so many other Australian products, the product became foreign owned in 2005 (acquired by the UK company Reckitt Benckiser PLC).

Answer: Myer

She represents Myer. David Jones and Roger David are high end stores just like Myer. Roger David is mainly a men's store. MySize is a store specifically for 'big' women.

Answer: Uncle Toby's Oats

According to Aussie hero Thorpedo (swimmer Ian Thorpe) in the 2004 TV campaign, they're "fully sick".

Answer: Coco Pops

At 38% sugar, surely every kid's favourite cereal? Coco the Monkey has been the mascot for Coco Pops since 1988.

Answer: Eat an ice cream

Paul's ice cream has been part of Australian life from 1933 until 2003 when they became Parmalat Australia Ltd, and Billabong was just a part of their range. Who remembers Hava-Heart, Choco Malt, Skona, Splits and the original Drumstick?

A billabong is a small body of water near a river, and is the Aussie term for an ox-bow lake. What connection there is between semi-stagnant water and icecream is beyond me, but you have to agree that it is a cool-sounding word. 'Laughing gear' just means your mouth!

Answer: Chalk and coloured liquid

She would dip a piece of chalk into coloured liquid, and then snap the chalk, explaining that fluoride (sodium fluoride, actually) gets into teeth the same way that the liquid gets into the chalk. To me, it did not make a lot of sense. Either the liquid was very potent, or Australians had very weak teeth. Either way, it did not seem to be much of a sales technique. I guess that is why I am not in the advertising, or the toothpaste, business.

Answer: Snappy Tom

The ads themselves were not particularly special, but the jingle was quite catchy. Snappy Tom is made by Safcol, a South-Australian based company. Oh, and no self-respecting cat would be caught dead eating Pal; that is dog food!

Answer: SPC

SPC's jingle was this: "SPC baked beans and spaghetti for hungry little human beans." Notice they are not human beings but human beans.

Answer: Kellogg's Nutri Grain

"Like a cricket bat with holes". Sorry to you young-uns. This advertising campaign I think was from the early 80's, though an internet search didn't raise a single match.
I wonder how many of you didn't choose Nutri Grain because it was also the answer for question 3?