Take a look at this year's epic Australia Day Lamb ad starring Lee Lin Chin, Mitchell Johnson and more.

OUTRAGE at a flame thrower torching a vegan’s bowl of kale in the new Australia Day lamb ad has prompted calls for Australians to lighten up.

A poll run by News Corp Australia yesterday taken by more than 22,000 readers found the overwhelming majority backed the controversial ad.

This year’s campaign, which brings together Lambassador Sam Kekovich and legendary SBS newsreader Lee Lin Chin, sparked nearly 300 complaints to the Advertising Standards Bureau since the ad was launched on Sunday.

The complaints were mainly about discrimination against vegans, but the ad has also come under criticism for the use of the term “Operation Boomerang” which some consider insensitive to indigenous Australians.

When asked for their thoughts on the ad, just over 64 per cent (14,596) of poll respondents (as of 9am Thursday January 14) said they “loved it”, while only 18 per cent hated the ad and said it should be banned.

View the full poll results below

Readers were quick to lambast the ad’s critics, arguing it was political correctness gone mad.

David said: “Constant pandering to political correctness is ruining our society and killing our great Australian sense of humour.”

Similarly, Kay said: “What is missing in our so politically correct world these days is a sense of humour. This is not meant to be taken seriously. It is a spoof for goodness sake.”

And there was this from Holy Quail: “Can we make 2016 the year to outlaw political correctness? It’s just an ad for goodness sake. Not a Tarantino movie!!!”

But there were some, albeit in the minority, that felt the ad was offensive.

“Australia Day, when all the bogans have a boozy BBQ celebrating the invasion of Australia,” said Sunshine.

Micky took issue with the cost of the ad: “The bottom line is that the ad is most likely to get dumped and the wasting of millions of dollars of farmers funds ... the only ones that will benefit are the producers/ production company of that crappy advertisement”.

Meanwhile, vegans found a friend in Pat: “Not a vegan but respect their choice. However, it is surprising the number of vegans who don’t realise honey is off the list. I also have a friend who has recently realised she sits on a leather lounge and is a very strict vegan. She is horrified. It is very important to Vegans to maintain their belief.”





The ad is based around a mission to save Aussies abroad from having to go without a lamb barbecue on Australia Day.

Chin leads an army, including Fitzy & Wippa, across the likes of Tokyo, London and Bali, on a journey to bring home a number of prominent Aussies.

One of the people Chin’s army brings home includes a vegan whose kale is set on fire.

It is this scene that has sparked the most complaints, including on the Facebook page of Meat and Livestock Australia, which created the ad.

Others have complained about the use of the term “boomerang” arguing it is insensitive to indigenous Australians, especially leading into Australia Day.

A spokeswoman for the Advertising Standards Bureau said it had received close to 300 complaints since the ad was launched — the majority about discrimination against vegans.

The spokeswoman told News Corp Australia a meeting of the ASB board will be convened to review the ad — possibly prior to Australia Day.

“It will go to our next board meeting. The board will decide on whether to dismiss or uphold the ad. If it is dismissed it has to then be removed,” she said.

MLA’s group marketing manager Andrew Howie told AdNews that the ad had already been viewed more than 1.2 million times, making it the most successful campaign ever despite being released just days ago.

“We set out to entertain every year, unfortunately in trying to appeal to the masses you are not able to appeal to everybody,” Mr Howie said.

Mr Howie said the MLA was in the process of addressing complaints made against the ad.

It’s not the first time the Australia Day lamb ads have received complaints.

The 2014 campaign, which featured Kekovich giving a lamb chop to a toddler wearing a “vegan and proud” T-shirt, was one of the most complained about ads of the year.

Those complaints were dismissed.