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A TV ADVERT promoting the eating of lamb has infuriated Australian vegans over one particular scene.
The ad, run by industry group Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and entitled ‘Commence Operation Boomerang’, is a tongue-in-cheek call to arms for Australians everywhere who may be missing out on eating meat, specifically lamb, on Australia Day.
Featuring such celebrities as Lee Lin Chin, a newscaster and prolific user of social media, and retired cricketer Mitchell Johnson, the ad is more akin to the mayhem of a Michael Bay movie than your standard meat industry fare.
A problem has arisen with one section of the video however. The lamb commandos drop in on a New York apartment where an Australian expatriate is living.
When told that the commandos wish to bring him home to eat lamb, the man replies “but I’m a vegan now”. This stops the soundtrack and leaves the military men dumbfounded.
The next scene shows the men using a flamethrower on a bowl of kale, a form of cabbage, sitting on the coffee table while Lin Chin mutters “vegans” under her breath and the bearded expat cowers in the corner.
It is this shot in particular that apparently has Australian vegans up in arms.
The Australian Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) has so far received in the region of 250 complaints about the video, mostly from vegans. Complaints have also been received regarding the ad’s implied violence, and of cultural insensitivity (the ad’s military operation is dubbed ‘Operation Boomerang’ – boomerang being an Aboriginal word).
Andrew Howie of MLA is quoted by ABC as defending the video as ‘a bit of fun’.
“The torching is metaphorical towards the kale in the bowl,” he said.
It’s in no way intended to be abusive or violent … what we are trying to do is increase lamb sales over the period.
Fiona Jolly of the ASB meanwhile said that the scene containing the vegan has not broken their code of conduct.
“The code of ethics doesn’t really have lifestyle choice or eating preferences as an issue that we will look at as being discriminatory or vilifying,” she told ABC.
What is likely against the rules however is the use of the flamethrower.
“Ads cannot contain violence unless it’s relevant to the service or the product being advertised,” Jolly said.
There is no place for violence in an ad unless it’s relevant to the product, so what the board has to look at is the part of the ad complained about — is it actually violent?”
According to Jolly the ASB could potentially pull the ad, or have it forcibly edited, if it is found to have broken the code with regard to violence.
The ad cost about €770,000 to make and is due to run until 26 January. Such ads by the MLA have become a staple of Australia Day in recent years, with each one featuring a ‘lambassador’, in this case Lin Chin.
Australia Day, celebrated on 26 January, is the official national day of Australia.
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Totally agree. Waste of garda time and tax payers money, all the people who smoke it are gonna! They’re gonna! Yeah they gonna sit at home watch a movie and fall asleep. . . Its so dangerous.
I agree legalise it along with heroin and cocaine. We will save loads in revenue. People will use what they want
Isn’t it funny how society has accepted the fact that the government have banned something that grows naturally and which doesn’t have to be processed in any way for it to be consumed, they’ve basically banned nature and got away with it. They could allow people grow their own plants, whether they want to enjoy them recreationally or benefit from their medicinal properties, but instead they’ve created an underworld marketplace which is run by organised crime gangs, who also have a financial incentive to supply their customers with more harmful & addictive substances.
Unfortunately everything you say makes perfect sense;therefore will be ignored…
Legalise it
Tax it
Free up Garda time to tackle real crime
If that happened you would see an end to a lot of our economic problems it would also create jobs
And use would go down that fact has been proven
Probably boost tourism too!
Legalise it absolutely Fagan but f*ck taxing it!
Why should I pay the dail parasites money for a plant that grows out of the ground?
They’ve already taxed us pretty much on the air we breathe so f*ck them!
Taxing it doesn’t mean you can’t grow. Sure how many people you know brew their own sauce?
Most would be too lazy and would buy.
Legalise weed.
Totally agree. Waste of garda time and tax payers money.
What a waste of Garda resources, time and money.
More unemployment…
Don’t forget 2 install solar panels next time guys….
The guards would save more lives if they raided diageo and publicly destroyed all the liquor.
Cannabis should be legal but definitely for chronic pain.
Bring on Sativex, the 5 drugs i’m on now are shite for controlling pain.
Mick I do sympathise with you but why just for chronic pain? Why shouldn’t it be allowed for Bi Polar and other conditions where the benefits have been proven? Any why Sativex which is an synthetic version which can cost up to €10 a day? Why not just allow people to grow enough for their own needs?
i would prefer to grow some but as i travel a lot i don’t want to risk being caught. It should be legalized for all conditions.
I know home grown cannabis would be better than sativex but sativex will be legal.
But sativex is just big pharma raping a gift from the universe and selling it at a rediculous price.
Yes, the Irish tax payer will be forking out €millions every year so that MS sufferers can avail of a cannabis spray, one which is reported to be less effective than the plant in its natural form. If cannabis was legalised, cannabis tinctures could be easily made at a fraction of the cost of what GW Pharmacueticals are going to charge. Tinctures were in fact readily available from pharamacies for the treament of a numebr of ailments, prior to cannabis being prohibited.
Didn’t they try that in the states mick prohibition didn’t turn out well
What a backwards bunch we are. We make a naturally growing plant illegal, and lock people up for growing or possessing it. And we still have a disturbingly large percentage of the country stuck in “Reefer Madness” mode. Go on, you muppets, keep looking down on people who enjoy this miraculous plant, while smoking your chemical-laden, commercial cigarettes, and skulling your liver-rotting alcohol. Hypocrisy mixed with idiocy.
Nice seizure. Well done!
They’ve had lots of practice. They’ve been at the drug war for over fifty years. Are there more grow houses in Ireland than there were 50 years ago? Are there more drug addicts in Ireland than there were 50 years ago? Hmmm. Maybe the drug war isn’t such a good strategy. Maybe they should try another approach? Portugal?
It’s worked for them, more people going to rehab willingly too.
Lets face it though it would be out of charachter for the government to do something positive for the country.
Why, Pauric? Impart us with your thoughts on said subject? Please be objective, and don’t just spout out some ill-informed anti drugs invective.
Should be a referendum on it let the people decide!!!!
I could acquire top-quality weed in ten minutes if I wanted, and I don’t even smoke the stuff. That’s how ubiquitous it is. It’s everywhere, and it’s harmless.
When the government limits personal freedoms for arbitrary reasons with no benefit to society, it loses credibility as an institution.
Easy to find these grow houses
The Garda are informed of any unusually high electrical activity in a area
Yeah, that would be great, even if he’s only given the minimum 10 year mandatory sentence, it would cost the tax payer €654,040 (€65,404 being the average annual cost of imprisonment in Ireland, not including education costs), I’d personally prefer to see that kind of money being spent on such things as Health and Education, rather than seeing it wasted on locking up small time criminal gardeners.
That was in reply to itiswhatitisMF’s ridiculous comment below.
The medicinal benefits, crime surrounding drug dealing & tax that could help boost our economy clearly aren’t good enough reasons for the Irish government.
Before some smart arse refers to the “crime surrounding drug dealing ” no I don’t think all drugs should be legalized. My 62 year old uncle with chronic arthritus was recently hopped on the way home from purchasing a plant that grows freely though..in my opinion thats wrong.
Typical. 1 person gets caught and they sing from high heaven. No honour amongst people involved in drugs. Get caught then rat out your best friend or your cousin to stay out of jail. This drug bust will lead to others getting caught and so on.
Why be so begrudging? ;-)
But seriously, people will get what they want when they want. Legalise it all, tax it, make people sign forms to say they use it (alcohol tobacco incl) so their medical bills reflect their lifestyle choice.
Fact is fatty fatty fat fats and smokers don’t pay any more for healthcare for some reason. I think an avid exerciser should be rewarded for their healthy lifestyle.
So who is winning the war on drugs? The gardaí or the dealers?
Hmmmm….scratches chin!
People on drugs are winning “the war on drugs”
Sophisticated cultivation system = hydroponic growing system, not so sophisticated after all, very simple actually.
oh no! That Clondalkin Red is some legendary shite!
That name is derogatory at best.
Meant to comment on one above sorty
thank god another drug pusher off the streets
But Thomas, what difference does it really make? Drug dealers come ten a penny, lock 1,000 of them up and another 10,000 will follow, like any other consumable product, once there’s demand, there’ll be supply (especially when it’s so profitable), it’s basic economics.
The sensational story of €400,000 worth of cannabis being caught sounds great, but when you stop & think about it for a minute, you realise that they probably only caught some lackey and confiscated a few grands worth of equipment (the next grow house that they set up will recover the cost of this bust pretty easily). Then you need to ask what costs are involved, how many Garda man hours were spent on the operation, how much free legal aid is going to be needed (more tax payers money wasted), how much court time is going to be used up and how much will it cost to send the guy to prison? And you also need to ask, what did it really acheive? Absolutely Nothing!! The same amount of people will still be using cannabis and they’ll still be able to get it at the drop of a hat.
I’ve just dropped my hat, can u get me some? No mun, no fun :(
Something being overlooked here – they ‘estimate’ the street value of some five hundred plants are worth four hundred grand? Whose arse did they pull that number out of??! Is that by the spliff prices?? It might take another twenty years but it will eventually be decriminalised here. Common sense suggests it should be, anyway…
5 seeds cost 50€ so im told! You do the maths.
Abolishing the Seanad would save the country 20 million a year..legalising canabis could triple that, massive boost for the country and reduce criminal gangs profit.. Oh no hold this is a bad idea.. CUT THE BENEFITS..
Think of the flocks of tourists, albeit stoners, who would flock to Ireland if we legalised cannabis.
The drug itself is less harmful than alcohol.
It should be available on the medical card weed that is mmm!
Hopefully he gets life for this.
Hopefully you grow a brain and educate yourself on the subject of drugs.
have your say