UK TV regulator lifts ban on Australian 'bloody' ad

LONDON – After much fuss, the industry regulator has lifted the ban on the word 'bloody' being used in Tourism Australia's new ad campaign on TV in the UK, having originally banned it.

The BACC initially ruled not to allow the term "bloody" to be used in the television ads, created by M&C Saatchi, because it was too rude.

Now the regulator says that Tourism Australia can broadcast the full tagline for the ads, which end with a bikini-clad woman on a beach asking "so where the bloody hell are you?"

Scott Morrison, Tourism Australia's managing director, said: "We can now have our cake and eat it in the UK.

"We have received great publicity from the launch and can now run the campaign in full."

The tourist body received a wave of publicity after the use of the word was banned.

"It's a great outcome for the 500,000 Australians who work in the tourism industry and we congratulate Tourism Minister Fran Bailey for securing this result and all those who were involved," Morrison added.

The ad is part of a major campaign to lure more tourists to Australia and, since the campaign was launched in Sydney in late February, there have been more than 60,000 visits to Tourism Australia's website.

The campaign has already become the most successful global viral campaign Tourism Australia has yet run.

"We have literally created online traffic jams around this campaign," Morrison said.

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