******.... Now we have upset the Kiwis again......
NATIONAL NEWS
SUNDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 2001
N A T I O N A L N E W S S T O R Y
******! The Aussies have done it again
25 November 2001
By AMIE RICHARDSON
Not content with claiming Kiwi icons such as Phar Lap and Neil Finn, the Australians have struck again - over one of our best-loved television ads.
The new Toyota "******" ad was filmed and produced across the Tasman.
Saatchi & Saatchi writer Howard Greive, who was on the original "******" production team with John Plimmer and John Fisher, said Toyota Australia approached the advertising company for a second advert.
The result - with a faster, more urban feel - was filmed over three days in Sydney using mostly Australian actors. The expletive is used five times - by a bricklayer, a woman, a baby, the driver of the Toyota and a dog.
Greive said the ad was appropriate for New Zealand and Australia and the concept was never created strictly for New Zealand. New Zealand had not lost an icon, he said.
"The reality is that in New Zealand we have a hell of a lot of Australian ads so it's hardly a breakthrough. At the end of the day it's a Toyota ad and it incorporates all the characteristics Toyota represents."
Despite its popularity, the first ad went before the Advertising Standards Authority in 1999 after complaints that "******" was still a swear word. Irate farmers in South Australia also wanted the ad banned.
Greive was not concerned about causing offence. "I'm sure it will upset people. But then there are others who will just laugh."
He said while the new ad was structured differently - as a story rather than a series of unrelated gags - there was nothing that could beat the first time the word "******" was used on television.
This ad, like the last, would not screen before 8.30pm.
Toyota New Zealand did not feel its original concept had been lost to the Australians.
Marketing manager Debbie Pattullo said if people wanted to see it as a lost Kiwi icon they would, but it was appropriate to Australians and New Zealanders.
Pattullo said part of the ad's success was its controversy and ability to generate debate.
Victoria University head of marketing and international business Peter Thirkell said his research had found it was important not to offend any of the target audience, even if it was a small number.
More than 100 people complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about the first ad. All complaints were dismissed.