British TV bosses have banned a commercial made by Australia’s tourism industry. The ad will not be shown because of the words “bloody hell” in the slogan, "So where the bloody hell are you?" The question is an invite for Brits to take a vacation in Australia. However, the conservative advertising execs decided it was “bad” language and too rude for British ears. The colorful commercial highlights all the things Australia is famous for - lovely beaches, crystal clear ocean, aboriginal dancing and beer. British people can see the ad in full in cinemas, newspapers and on the Internet.

Australia’s Tourism Minister Fran Bailey is shocked by the ban and said it was “comical”. She added that research showed “the British [love] our…sense of humor”. Tourism executive Scott Morrison is also amazed at the decision. However, the ban has given the “visit Australia” campaign a lot of free publicity. Some Aussies agree with the ban. One politician said: “People can usually say those things to somebody they know well…in this instance, we’re talking to strangers of a different culture who I think may be offended.”

WARM-UPS

1. MY COUNTRY: Write down five reasons for a tourist to visit your country and five reasons why a tourist might be disappointed in your country. Share what you wrote with your partner(s).

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

TV / bosses / advertisements / tourism / Australia / bad language / lovely beaches / beer / comical things / sense of humor / amazement / publicity / different cultures

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

3. ADVERTISING: With your partner(s), talk about the points below. What do advertisers need to be careful about when making a TV commercial? How do you think these points might differ from country to country?

Language Similarity to other ads Use of people’s race / color Religion Showing the human body

History The use of animals Talking about other countries Making fun of politicians or royalty Blood

4. MEDIA: In pairs / groups, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using the following media to advertise a product or service:

Television Internet Radio Sporting events

Newspapers Movies Billboard posters Leaflets handed out in the street

5. TV COMMERCIAL OPINIONS: Do you agree with the following opinions about TV commercials? Talk about them with your partner(s).

1. TV commercials are the best way to advertise.
2. TV commercials will always sell lots of products or services.
3. Some TV commercials are better than TV programmes.
4. The adverts from my country are better than those from other countries.
5. I hate TV commercials.
6. It’s OK to use a little bad language in TV commercials.
7. TV commercials are often full of lies about the things they advertise.
8. TV channels that have no commercials are best.

6. TOURISM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “tourism”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	British TV execs banned an Australian ad because of bad language.	T / F
b.	A slogan in the ad for Australian tourism talked about blood.	T / F
c.	Britain’s advertising execs are worried about British people’s ears.	T / F
d.	British people can see the banned ad in cinemas and in newspapers.	T / F
e.	Australia’s tourism minister said the ban was comical.	T / F
f.	The minister said Brits loved the Aussie sense of humor.	T / F
g.	An Australian politician said the ban was a terrible mistake.	T / F
h.	Another politician said no one would be offended by the slogan.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	shown	funny
b.	ad	impolite
c.	invite	surprised
d.	rude	case
e.	highlights	advert / advertisement
f.	shocked	media attention
g.	comical	displayed
h.	publicity	stresses
i.	instance	upset
j.	offended	invitation

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	British TV bosses have	with the ban
b.	“So where the bloody	clear ocean
c.	advertising execs decided it was “bad”	to somebody they know well
d.	crystal	of humor
e.	British people can see the ad	banned a commercial
f.	the British [love] our… sense	publicity
g.	a lot of free	who I think may be offended
h.	Some Aussies agree	in full in cinemas
i.	People can usually say those things	language and too rude
j.	strangers of a different culture	are you?"

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

British TV bans Australian tourism ad

British TV bosses have ________ a commercial made by Australia’s tourism industry. The ad will not be ________ because of the words “bloody hell” in the ________, "So where the bloody hell are you?" The question is an ________ for Brits to take a vacation in Australia. However, the conservative advertising ________ decided it was “bad” language and too rude for British ears. The colorful commercial highlights all the things Australia is ________ for - lovely beaches, ________ clear ocean, aboriginal dancing and beer. British people can see the ad in ________ in cinemas, newspapers and on the Internet.		famous full slogan banned execs crystal shown invite
Australia’s Tourism Minister Fran Bailey is ________ by the ban and said it was “comical”. She added that ________ showed “the British [love] our…________ of humor”. Tourism executive Scott Morrison is also amazed at the ________. However, the ban has given the “visit Australia” ________ a lot of free publicity. Some Aussies ________ with the ban. One politician said: “People can usually say those things to ________ they know well…in this instance, we’re talking to strangers of a different culture who I think may be ________.”		decision research offended agree shocked campaign sense somebody

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

British TV bans Australian tourism ad

British TV bosses have _______ a commercial made by Australia’s tourism industry. The ad will not be shown because of the words “bloody hell” in the _______, "So where the bloody hell are you?" The question is an _______ for Brits to _______ a vacation in Australia. However, the conservative advertising execs decided it was “bad” language and too _______ for British ears. The colorful commercial highlights all the things Australia is famous for - lovely beaches, _______ clear ocean, aboriginal dancing and beer. British people can see the ad in _______ in cinemas, newspapers and on the Internet.

Australia’s Tourism Minister Fran Bailey is shocked by the _______ and said it was “comical”. She added that research showed “the British [love] our…_______ of humor”. Tourism executive Scott Morrison is also _______ at the decision. However, the ban has given the “visit Australia” campaign a lot of _______ publicity. Some Aussies agree with the ban. One politician said: “People can usually say those _______ to somebody they know well…in this _______, we’re talking to strangers of a different _______ who I think may be offended.”

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘bloody’ and ‘hell’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT “TV COMMERCIAL” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about TV commercials.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

banned invite execs rude clear full

comical sense amazed free agree instance

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. What do you think of the slogan in the Aussie ad?
3. What do you know about the words “bloody” and “bloody hell”?
4. Why do you think TV bosses have banned the ad but cinemas and newspaper bosses haven’t?
5. Do you think British people are too conservative?
6. Do you think it’s OK to use a word that was bad 100 years ago on TV today?
7. Do you know of any ads that have been banned in your country?
8. Do you think the ban is good for Australia’s tourism ads?
9. Do you think the words “bloody hell” were used for their shock value, for humor, or because it is a natural part of Australian speech?
10. What famous things would be included in an ad for your country’s tourist industry?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Why do you think the Australian tourism minister described the ban as “comical”?
4. What do you think of the British sense of humor?
5. Do you feel comfortable using the bad or foul words from English or other languages?
6. Do you think understanding bad language is an important part of language learning?
7. Do you think British and Australian people are from different cultures?
8. Would you be offended by the use of bad language in an ad?
9. Would you like to watch the banned ad?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

TV COMMERCIALS: In pairs / groups, discuss whether the following ads are OK or not. Make a mini presentation about each ad.

Ad	Comments for your presentation
1.    AUSTRALIAN TOURISM A farmer is standing in front of Ayers Rock, holding a can of beer. He says, “Come to Australia. It’s a much better place than New Zealand.”
2.    BAN FUR A baby polar bear is being seen clubbed to death and skinned. There’s a lot of blood. Slogan: “Bloody fashion”
3.    HAMBURGER RESTAURANT Slogan: “There’s tons of cholesterol in our high calorie burgers… and boy do they taste GOOD!!”
4.     LANGUAGE SCHOOL Slogan: “Study with out new method and be fluent in two and a half weeks.”
5.    ARMY RECRUITMENT: A warplane is dropping hundreds of bombs on a densely populated city. A man’s voice says: “Help fight for peace.”
6.    “YUM” CHOCOLTATE BAR: God is talking to his friend. He says: “And on the eighth day I made Yum chocolate.”

Change partners and talk about what you wrote with your previous partner(s).

Give your presentations.

Discuss what was said in each presentation and vote on the best ones.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. TOURISM: Make a poster advertising the wonderful things about your country. Include all the things you want visitors to see. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. Which poster(s) did you like most and why?

3. THE SAME? Write an essay on the differences between Britons, Australians, Americans, Canadians and New Zealanders? Are they all the same? Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did everyone have similar thoughts?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. T

b. F

c. F

d. T

e. T

f. T

g. F

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	shown	displayed
b.	ad	advert / advertisement
c.	invite	invitation
d.	rude	impolite
e.	highlights	stresses
f.	shocked	surprised
g.	comical	funny
h.	publicity	media attention
i.	instance	case
j.	offended	upset

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	British TV bosses have	banned a commercial
b.	“So where the bloody	are you?"
c.	advertising execs decided it was “bad”	language and too rude
d.	crystal	clear ocean
e.	British people can see the ad	in full in cinemas
f.	the British [love] our… sense	of humor
g.	a lot of free	publicity
h.	Some Aussies agree	with the ban
i.	People can usually say those things	to somebody they know well
j.	strangers of a different culture	who I think may be offended

GAP FILL:

British TV bans Australian tourism ad

British TV bosses have banned a commercial made by Australia’s tourism industry. The ad will not be shown because of the words “bloody hell” in the slogan, "So where the bloody hell are you?" The question is an invite for Brits to take a vacation in Australia. However, the conservative advertising execs decided it was “bad” language and too rude for British ears. The colorful commercial highlights all the things Australia is famous for - lovely beaches, crystal clear ocean, aboriginal dancing and beer. British people can see the ad in full in cinemas, newspapers and on the Internet.

Australia’s Tourism Minister Fran Bailey is shocked by the ban and said it was “comical”. She added that research showed “the British [love] our…sense of humor”. Tourism executive Scott Morrison is also amazed at the decision. However, the ban has given the “visit Australia” campaign a lot of free publicity. Some Aussies agree with the ban. One politician said: “People can usually say those things to somebody they know well…in this instance, we’re talking to strangers of a different culture who I think may be offended.”

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