Fellow Aussies, I'd been trying to look for that ad that'd been on TV - you know the one which goes "I believe that it's a prawn, not a shrimp!" and so forth ... and I have only vague recollections about what the ad was for (guess the patriotic marketing didn't work on me) - it was a beer thing, right?
Anyway, in my search for "prawn, not shrimp" (or approximately that), I found an open letter to the USA by Christine Kenneally on behalf of all Australians, buried in a collection of letters to Timonthy McSweeney's Unreserved Embrace (do a find on 'Open Letter' and you'll get straight there) regarding the Outback Steakhouse advertising, in a vain effort to clarify some of the stereotypes:
--Yes, it is a barbie. No, they are not shrimp. We call the big ones prawns. Shrimps are small, hardly worth the chewing. We barbeque our prawns on television more often than anywhere else. We generally prefer snags (sausages) with tomato sauce (ketchup) and white bread (white bread).
This appears to be a transcript of the ad with additional wisecracks (and also a mention of the Canadian version).
(All this because someone stooped to temptation and threw the "barbeque shrimp" quip at me :P)
*Later ...
I noticed there's a reply to the above 'open letter' by a disgruntled American (look for 'Feed the World' under the same link), and sayeth he:
... Obviously, Ms. Kenneally fears that if we absorb these cultural commodities into our nation, her exclusive Australian identity will cease to be so...exclusive. Well, I got news for you, toots: Just 'cause you live there doesn't mean you're the only one who knows what a Down-under Dinnie is all about. We Americans are ready, and tough enough for your rugged Outback lifestyle. Oh Sure, the Outback Steakhouse isn't the "real" Australia. But you're actually trying to tell me that Australians don't "put another shrimp on the barbie, mate"? Come on! I saw that on TV, like, ten years ago! Next you'll be telling me that Foster's isn't "Australian for beeeah, mate,"; or that Australians don't drive Subaru Outbacks like Crocodile Dundee does. Look, get over yourself. If I want to walkabout to the Out' 'house for some Kanga-stew that's my damn business. Keep your elitist, separatist agenda "out back" where it belongs. "Back out," as it were. We Americans have given the world our McDonald's; isn't it time for you to open the doors to the Outback Steakhouse you've been treasuring - hording - so long?
Ahh, children. No, that wasn't me sneering.
Posted by sniffles at January 21, 2003 11:21 PM