With one week to go before Australia Day, it’s an absolute certainty that a message from “Lambassador” Sam Kekovich will have graced Australian television screens by now, and it has. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve looked forward to seeing it, but having seen the way in which the campaign has been taken to a more cringeworthy degree this year than in previous years, that enthusiasm has been swept away. 
Before proceeding any further, let me state for the record that I was not a fan of Aqua’s smash hit “Barbie Girl” when it was released 15 years ago, and I’m not a fan of it now. So why the advertising people decided to cave into this lowbrow “karaoketing” trend and get Sam Kekovich, Melissa Tkautz (who still looks tasty after all these years) and Justice Crew to sing a new and somewhat Autotuned version of that song is beyond me. And don’t start me on the appearance of Richard Wilkins in the three minute clip either, since even the mere mention of anyone or anything to do with Keynotes (remember that show? If not, Google it) brings back a few unpleasant memories. 
Some of you may be thinking that I’m taking this too seriously, and should just take it as a lighthearted parody. However, I simply cannot do that in this case, because there are so many of these all singing, all dancing commercials being made these days (case in point: the Coles “No Added Hormones” campaign) that it’s getting beyond a joke, and going to the point where it becomes a celebration of all things tacky and cheesy instead of a piss take. So if the full clip makes the transition from YouTube to commercial television (and it might), I’ll be reaching for my remote control as quickly as possible. 
