Cane Toad Road
Hi, this is my article about an Australian advertisement. The advertisement I chose is basically two toads talking on a road at night. One seems really rational, Ralph, and the other one is really distracted. It starts with the dreamy one asking Ralph about the cream on his own back. Ralph answers that it is poisonous and that it is really bad for him. However, the dreamy leaks it and he really likes it. It is also an aphrodisiac so he is… happy. All of this part is just made to introduce the characters, show their personalities, and to be funny! Finally after almost an entire minute, a car approaches. The distracted toad says it is dangerous and that they should get off the road. But Ralph says, according to the sound of it, that it is a four cylinder and that it is no powerful so that they have plenty of time. Unfortunately, that was a Ford with “six cylinder performance from a four cylinder engine” and the car crushes Ralphie.
This commercial for the Falcon EcoBoost car of Ford is really surprising because we have no idea it is a commercial for a car until the end. Also it is pretty funny to see those two opposite personality toads talking. Nevertheless, it is pretty common to see funny commercials and to discover its object only at the end. With those two criteria, it is a classic advertisement for the classic target of the men who want a powerful car. But the part that reveals a lot about Australia is at the end, when the car crushes Ralph. Because seeing a toad being smashed like this in a commercial watched by everyone (including kids) is really different from France. Indeed in France, that commercial would have probably not been authorised because of the violence. However, in Australia, this crazy concept of toads talking and the violence of the crash are just funny. A lot of Australian commercials are like this. It is common culture to not hide details like blood or to use scatty humour in Australia.