Even More Aussie TV Ads Quiz / Test | Marketing

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. One of the longest running commercial campaigns is the one for Australia's favourite spread, Vegemite. In which decade did the 'Happy Little Vegemites' first air on television?

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.

2. "Oils ain't oils". The Mafia Don, portrayed by John Bluthal, told us so, many times. What sort of oil was Sol, the boss's mechanic, trying to copy?

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.

3. 'It's a big ad' showed hundreds of men in red, white and yellow smocks, racing across a field, and combining to form the image of a man drinking a beer. It is one of the biggest ads seen on Australian television in recent times, and used some quite dramatic music. Can you name the stirring music that crescendos in the background?

Answer: 'Carmina Burana' by Carl Orff

Carlton Draught (a beer) released this ad in 2005 on TV and the internet. It was seen by millions of people globally, and it won a swag of awards, including a Golden Lion from the prestigious Cannes Festival. It was filmed in New Zealand by the same photographic director that did 'Lord of the Rings', Andrew Lesnie.

The 1935 cantata was actually based on a collection of poems written in the twelfth century!

4. A very attractive lady is standing next to a grand piano saying 'Guess what, I'm wearing _______'. At the end of the song, she proves it by 'exposing' herself to the camera, and the pianist. What is she wearing?

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.

5. Yellow Pages produced a ripper of an ad in 1992. It showed a man with a broad Scottish burr working on his car, and discovering that it had a broken 'fretz'. He needed to contact a spare-parts place but had trouble getting the message across because of his accent. What make of car was it?

Answer: Goggomobil

He resorted to spelling out the name "G-O-G-G-O...", and then having to tell the spare parts salesman that it was "Not the Dart! Everyone thinks of the Dart!". The Goggomobil were a small car produced in Germany in the 1950s and 60s, and the Dart was an Australian-made body on a Goggomobil chassis. The tiny 293cc engine could push the vehicle along at a withering 85kph (50mph)!

6. Professor Julius Sumner Miller dazzled kids with various scientific demonstrations, finishing off each show with the question 'Why is it so?'. What was the product that he was selling?

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?

7. The word 'Anyhow' will bring back memories of one of Australia's funniest comedians. He started work as a painter on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, before breaking into television and movies. Who is he, and what brand of cigarettes did he sell?

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.

8. One of the most infuriating ads I have seen was one for Colgate toothpaste. What did Mrs Marsh use to demonstrate how the fluoride gets into your teeth?

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.

9. 'This goes with this goes with this goes with this and this goes with that'. A very successful series of ads used these words (or variants) for many years in the 1970s and 80s. Which Australian company used this jingle?

Answer: Sussan

Sussan sells women's fashions, and have been doing so since 1939, starting in a small shop in Melbourne. They now have outlets in most major shopping centres around Australia, and in 1995, dipped into the New Zealand market. The ads themselves are not extravagant, and usually simply show models wearing the Sussan labels, but the jingle is quite catchy.

10. This bank was owned by the Australian government till it was privatised in 1991 by the Hawke Labor Party. Its slogan used to be 'Get with the strength' with a logo of an elephant. The new logo was a yellow diamond with the lower right corner in black, represent the Southern Cross constellation. What was the new slogan that came into being at the same time?

Answer: Which bank?

The business observers and the press of the day had a lot of fun with both the logo and the slogan. The logo was ridiculed because it looked exactly like a slice of burnt toast, and the 'Which bank?' slogan was labelled as just plain nonsensical. Nonetheless, the Commonwealth is still one of the Big Four banks in Australia.

Source: Author ozzz2002

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

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