'Big Bugs' - Lost pair of Australian PSAs about biosecurity
May 1, 2021 17:43:50 GMT
dycaite and likechance like this
Post by Automaton on May 1, 2021 17:43:50 GMT
I was recently browsing r/tipofmytongue for commercial-related threads (as is routine for me at this point lol) and I came across an interesting post about a PSA from Australia.There are multiple posts about this from the same OP, with a few comments from people who remember seeing the same thing.
This is where my digging started. It had already been determined that the campaign was from the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS), a department dissolved in 2012. They were responsible for a long-running campaign known as Quarantine Matters!, most famously known for ads in the early 2000s starring the late Steve Irwin.
Finding any other material from AQIS proved tricky, but eventually I happened upon a PDF document which contained the following image:
Very promising! We have a man carrying a rather large grub through an airport. This also corresponds with a Google Sites post I found from June 2007:
I used TinEye to reverse image search that poster, and what I found was a now-defunct link to the former AQIS webpage. Thankfully, Wayback Machine had me covered.
web.archive.org/web/20070715000318/http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/about/public-awareness/q-matters/big-bugs
This confirms that there were two television commercials made: the grub starred in the 30-second version, and a shorter variant was made in which the "big bug" was a type of beetle. It's also quite fascinating to hear that these were animatronics, and to be honest that only makes me want to see these more!
There's a lot of publicly-available Australian government documents online, and these provide additional information about the campaign:
The Big Bugs television advertising campaign was launched in March 2007 as the latest phase of Quarantine Matters!
I also found the resume of Sharon Kerrigan, who appears to have worked on these PSAs as production manager alongside cinematographer/director Ernie Clark. It's great to have some names, but personally I would only contact people directly involved as a very last resort.
That said, there aren't many Australian commercial breaks from 2007 available online, and I haven't been able to find any trace of this so far. I have contacted a few Australian VHS collectors in case they have a copy of these, but I've not gotten any replies so far. I also asked Dycaite about this since he has the benefit of actually being Australian, and he said he vaguely recalled an ad with a giant bug at an airport.
So, that pretty much brings this write-up to a close. Thankfully we know the brand/organisation and exact period of airing in advance this time...
It was a PSA that ran on Australian television during the late 2000s (I would estimate 2008 to 2009, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was as early as 2007 or as late as 2011) that, if I remember correctly, was promoting airport biosecurity and quarantine. While the sequence of events is disorganised in my memory, I do vaguely remember a group of people in hazmat suits checking boxes (I'm assuming mail/shipments of some kind) and then later the same group carrying a huge maggot/larva through a white room/hallway. The PSA was filmed with a cool, blue-toned overcast filter.
This is where my digging started. It had already been determined that the campaign was from the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS), a department dissolved in 2012. They were responsible for a long-running campaign known as Quarantine Matters!, most famously known for ads in the early 2000s starring the late Steve Irwin.
Finding any other material from AQIS proved tricky, but eventually I happened upon a PDF document which contained the following image:
Very promising! We have a man carrying a rather large grub through an airport. This also corresponds with a Google Sites post I found from June 2007:
The government spends millions each year telling us that quarantine
matters (the Steve Irwin ad) and now another ad showing a blokes
suitcase looking like a big grub.
They tell us everything has to be check as some nasty could ruin out
ecosystem and native plant and animal life.
matters (the Steve Irwin ad) and now another ad showing a blokes
suitcase looking like a big grub.
They tell us everything has to be check as some nasty could ruin out
ecosystem and native plant and animal life.
web.archive.org/web/20070715000318/http://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/about/public-awareness/q-matters/big-bugs
This confirms that there were two television commercials made: the grub starred in the 30-second version, and a shorter variant was made in which the "big bug" was a type of beetle. It's also quite fascinating to hear that these were animatronics, and to be honest that only makes me want to see these more!
There's a lot of publicly-available Australian government documents online, and these provide additional information about the campaign:
The Big Bugs television advertising campaign was launched in March 2007 as the latest phase of Quarantine Matters!
I also found the resume of Sharon Kerrigan, who appears to have worked on these PSAs as production manager alongside cinematographer/director Ernie Clark. It's great to have some names, but personally I would only contact people directly involved as a very last resort.
That said, there aren't many Australian commercial breaks from 2007 available online, and I haven't been able to find any trace of this so far. I have contacted a few Australian VHS collectors in case they have a copy of these, but I've not gotten any replies so far. I also asked Dycaite about this since he has the benefit of actually being Australian, and he said he vaguely recalled an ad with a giant bug at an airport.
So, that pretty much brings this write-up to a close. Thankfully we know the brand/organisation and exact period of airing in advance this time...
