Thursday 2 April 2009

Extra

I was a movie star yesterday. 

Actually, that's a big fat lie. I did spend all day on a film shoot, though merely as an extra.

As part of the bushfire recovery package, the Victorian Government is spending $7.3 million on a three minute advertisement to highlight all the great things about the region I call home.

Fifteen of us from our town were in it, making all the boring bits of waiting around and doing the same thing over and over and over really fun.

I don't think that any of the virtues espoused in the ad are the region's finest (but I'm still looking forward to seeing the ad when it airs).

In fact when I think about it, the qualities that marketers always attribute to this region concern decadence and indulgence; the very things that lead to global warming, to the bushfires and the need for this ad to be made.

2 comments:

Lark said...

I agree with you Meg, I'm always perplexed by the way our region is marketed as an indulgent 'all about me', 'lots to do' destination, when the best things about the area are simplicity of life and the existence of a real community.

Meg said...

Here's the ad.