Mick Jagger, NRL stars and North Korea: Inside the making of Australia's ‘most hated' ad
Among other controversies – some yet to emerge – Australia's largest telco had just started paying $24 million in penalties and refunds after it was found to have wrongly charged customers for the third time in three years.
Smith & Foulkes' job was to deliver, with London-based production house Riff Raff Films, a distinctive advertisement that would alert Australia to Telstra's refreshed brand ethos.
'The whole idea was that wherever our main character went, he went with ease, knowing he was in step with his duet partner (Telstra),' says Bear Meets Eagle On Fire founder Micah Walker.
Seven months later, Smith & Foulkes presented their client with what would, less than a year on from its premiere, be publicly voted in July as Australia's most unforgettable advert. And most hated.
As put by one punter on YouTube: 'My stepbrother was lying dead next to a footy stadium at half-time. This ad came on, and he woke from the dead just to run for the lives of his ears!'
'People engage in their own way, and we welcome that,' says Telstra's chief marketing officer Brent Smart. 'We've seen fans have different reactions based on whether their team is up or down. At the end of the day if people are having a bit of fun with it, we're OK with that.'
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Adverts drawing the ire of the masses is not unusual; just look at Sydney Sweeney's recent 'Great Jeans' campaign for American Eagle, which has devolved to accusations of the label 'leaning into eugenics'. Telstra's Duet, however, is a whimsical, visually spectacular journey through mystical forests, caves, the outback and beyond, set to the Bee Gees/Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton's mollifying Islands in the Stream. What could possibly be controversial about that?
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