It’s ten o’clock in the morning and I’m bombarded with this Bundaberg rum advertisement below whilst looking for French educational video clips on YouTube. C’est fou! An integral part of my daily dose of tumblr is viewing and uploading YouTube clips to my profile. At this rate, I’ll be sipping mojito’s while typing my case study. Oh so very “Ernest Hemming” way indeed.
(Video 1: bundabergrumtv, 2013)
Arguably, this advertisement highlights the
direct link between our ‘expression of identity, both as individuals and [as a]...class
[grouping]’ via the origins and persistence of food, or rather, beverage ways (Atkins,
2001). As a nine-teen year old myself, I feel way too sophisticated for the
mere vodka cruiser or UDL but rather ‘a crafty mix of Bundaberg white rum and
crude apple aid’ is a far more distinguished option. Give me a gramophone like
that one and fire place that lights itself on cue and I’d be drinking it most
certainly every day.
The hilarity and almost farcical nature of Bundaberg’sadvertisements remains prevalent throughout this advertising campaign. Much
like other ‘[l]arge corporations’, Bundaberg is also ‘very reluctant to cede
their control over the food system’ (Patel, 2007) and cleverly, in terms of a marketing
strategy, invites an Australian audience to feel included and empowered by
the history of the sugar cane industry in early Australia. The notion that
Bundaberg rum resulted from ‘[the company founder’s] and the fellow miller’s
latching their brains together to create an ingenious solution to Bundaberg’s
molasses surplus crisis: rum. As Pierre Bourdieu argued, ‘social groups,
especially classes, in their tastes for food and other commodities may become a
badge of their identity’(Atkins, 2001); thus Bundaberg Rum has become a badge
for all ‘top shelf thinking’ white, anglo males. Although, as the clip below
shows, an Aboriginal character is also featured among the founding father’s.
This seems a poor attempt to add some recognition of ‘colour’ given the hundreds
of thousands, if not millions, of South Sea Islanders who were kidnapped or
forced into labour in the sugar cane fields of Australia (Petray, 2013) and
whose voice, like Aboriginal Australians, remains largely silenced. A favourable lie quite literally. Perhaps
Bundaberg’s pitch should be, “when life smoothers who in molasses do some black
birding and make rum”.
(Video 3: bundabergrumtv, 2012)
APA Reference List:
Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). The origins of taste, in Food in Society: Economy, cutlture and geography (pp. 272-293). London, England: Arnold.
Patel, R. (2007). Introduction, in Stuffed and starved: The hidden battle for the world's food system (pp.1-19). Toronto, Canada: Harper Perennial.
Petray, T. (2013). Lecture Notes retrieved from
Video Reference List:
Video 1: bundabergrumtv, 2013. Retrieved from
Video 3: bundaberrumtv, 2012. Retrieved from
Image Reference List:
Image 1: Bundy Rum, 2013. Retrieved from
This is a fantastic Blog, I shared with family and friends.
ReplyDeleteYour comments about the Aboriginal character being trade marked as one of the founding fathers is ridiculous. Especially given the history of rum making, slave, forced and false labour. I grew up in Mackay as a child and my best friend at school was south sea Islander. I often listen to the old people in the Mackay region and they all spoke about how they came over to work, as they were told they would earn good money, which they could send back to their families. They were also told that they only had to work for a year or two and would be returned to their wives and families back in the Solomon Islands. So I completely agree that they should pitch the slogan “when life smoothers who in molasses do some black birding and make rum” for bunny rum.
In week 7's Lecture Dr Kuttainen spoke about Polar Bear being the mascot for Bundaburg Rum, and how this marketing targets the idea that Rum is " a big bear" soft and cuddly. Taking away from the very aggressive behaviour usually associated with drinking rum.
So I think it is all a marketing target with the Polar Bear, and the Aboriginal character, to cover up the negative history and effects.
Awesome blog!!!!
Nice work Hannah! I noticed the Bundy ad on my Facebook advertising as well. I had never seen that commercial before your post and found it very poorly thought out. For a product that deems itself as "Top shelf thinking" the ad seemed stupid and pointless. Additionally, I agree with Libby and yourself as to the insensitivity of including the Aboriginal character as a founding father. What a disappointing ad that Facebook is selling to us.
ReplyDeleteI’m suddenly very glad that I’m not the only one mildly annoyed by Youtube’s pick of advertising. I’m always on there and I end up with a lot of adverts on Dare’s ice coffee or some sort of alcohol. Are you trying to say something, Youtube?
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I almost never fail to want one of whatever it is they happen to be advertising, even if only because it looks aesthetically pleasing at the time. In Atkins and Bowler’s reading of the origins of Taste (, it’s stated that there is ‘evidence [that] suggests that food advertising does […] affect people’s diet’. Do you think that we as adults should realistically know better than to be fooled by a company’s well done advert? Or maybe it’s the fact that that the company is simply very good at what they do, considering the money that they pour into having the same advertisement pop up five times in a row.